Pink Lemonade
by xhirosea
Summary: Arnold comes back to Hillwood after four and a half years in the jungle. Helga isn't as thrilled to see her ex-boyfriend as everyone else is. Oh well, she'll just keep on decorating her cakes.
1. Chapter 1

"I never expected Helga to work at a _bakery_ of all places," Arnold said, looking up at the hut. "It seems so…unlike her."

Phoebe chuckled. "I agree. It was shocking to say the least that Helga, of all people, would find solace in decorating cakes."

He's only been back in Hillwood for about four hours, and all he wanted to do was see Helga. Gerald wasn't exactly too thrilled, and he wasn't afraid to voice that opinion. He took the whole damn day off of school to come pick up his best friend, who he hasn't seen in years, and all that kid wanted to do was see Helga Pataki. Even through Gerald's protests of "She's still at at school, man," and later, "She don't want you bugging her while she's hard at work, man," they fell on deaf ears. Gerald finally relented when Phoebe met them after school and flashed their Dino Land season passes.

Arnold continued to look at the structure; it fit in with the theme of the small theme park. He wasn't fooled by the fake, tan, stucco "huts" as he once was when he was younger. Well, not like he was ever actually convinced that they were real, but after his years in the jungle, they seemed too over-the-top-fake. Disregarding his distaste, he looked up at the sign of the building that the couple brought him to.

The sign rested between two large boulders, and was propped in front of some palm leaves for decoration. The sign simply read "Dino Land Bakery". That was all it needed to be, he guessed.

"So she…really likes decorating cakes, huh? Is she pretty good?" He already knew the answer - Lila's letters told him that she was, in fact, amazing - but he wanted to know what Gerald and Phoebe had to say. Secretly, he enjoyed when other people spoke positively about her - he knew she didn't get that a lot in her childhood.

"Oh, she's quite skillful at cake decorating. She has an impeccable grasp of color theory which proves useful with this trade, and her attention to detail is second-to-none."

"I heard she doesn't bake her own cakes, though, so you might wanna take _that_ into consideration…but I dunno man, they are pretty fresh." Gerald shrugged with a small smile on his face. He wouldn't ever admit it, but Arnold knew that Gerald was proud of Helga. Just a little bit.

Dino Land's bakery, for whatever reason, had developed into an actual, functioning, stand-alone bakery over the years. Apparently, if you needed an intricate wedding cake that had to just be _perfect_ , or you just had to have the most flawless, spectacular birthday cake for someone special, you actually went to Dino Land to order it. It seemed strange to him that the theme park that was already run-down in his childhood would have such a place.

Since the bakery was now making actual money in spite of the park, they remodeled a bit of the entrance so the bakery was actually half outside the park - basically, there were two entrances into the store-slash-workshop. One inside the park, and one outside the park. At the Park entrance of the bakery, there was a large glass window that you could see the cake decorators while they were hard at work. Lila told him all about it; he remembered her being so excited about the remodel but also annoyed that it forced the bakery to be closed for a few days.

When they were approaching the big glass window, he saw three figures. Two girls were in the front, and one was in the back. The one in the back had blonde hair…that had to be her. As he got closer, and his excitement grew, he knew it was definitely her.

Her bright, blonde hair piled high into a bun at the top of her head. She had on a forest green apron and a khaki uniform, probably to keep up with the dinosaur theme. An electric blue piping bag was tight in her gloved hands, her gaze sharply focused as she piped small, delicate rosettes onto the cake's top surface. It was a tall, one-tier cake, already frosted with deep purple and a pastel pink drip. That was what was trendy right now, he guessed, although they looked kinda weird to him, but cool at the same time. He continued watching her for a few minutes - surely she must get irritated at all the guests constantly ogling her and her work? Wouldn't it get distracting? Regardless, he watched her as she was piping with determination, her eyes never leaving the cake. Her tongue stuck out a little as she was committed to nothing but this cake - as if nothing else existed. She was pouring her soul into this simple little cake, although with Helga, nothing was simple…he was sure this cake would turn out amazing, just like everything Helga did when she was passionate about something.

Once she was done with a few rosettes, she pulled the piping bag completely away from the cake and wiped her forehead, admiring her work. She looked up, smiling - _her genuine, relaxed smile was so beautiful_ , he thought - as she called out to the girls that was right in front of the window, who were decorating cookies. She suddenly scanned up and outside the window, to see what kind of guests were looking at them. She must have done this a lot, as she did it so casually - simple people watching, Her eyes glanced up to the guests that were looking in from the opposite side of the window. She saw Gerald and Phoebe and gave an enthusiastic wave. And then her eyes met Arnold's.

She kept waving, but her smile faded as her eyes focused a bit more, and she blinked a few times. Her waving stopped but her staring continued.

One of the girls right in front of him, one who Helga tried to call over - she was snapping her fingers trying to get Helga's attention back, but it was to no avail. Their eyes met for a few seconds, Helga not daring to move or break eye contact….until Arnold smiled and waved.

Once he waved, all hell broke loose inside of Helga's mind. The wind was knocked right out of her and she panicked; she struggled to catch her breath. Her reflexes dropped the hold she had on the top of electric blue frosting bag, spilling all over her apron and shoes. A soaked-in-frosting hand ran a hand through her hair as she struggled to breathe normally, staring emptily to the floor. She seemed to feel the frosting that was now stuck in her hair; her demeanor changed immediately to a different kind of shock- as she desperately tried to put her hands into the proper piping bag position, trying to save whatever frosting she could. And then, anger. Her face scrunched up, and he swore he heard her yell " _Criminy_! It took me all day to get that color right!" though the thick glass. She stomped her foot in anger as the two cookie-decorating girls up front rushed over to her. They clearly thought it was funny, and no big deal - the caucasian girl with braces and chestnut brown hair taking what was left of the piping bag from her hand, and started to clean up what frosting accidentally landed on the cake; and the small Indian girl with rose-colored glasses started to help Helga clean herself up. Helga's eyes went back to him, however, and she was frozen in place. The two girls also noticed this after a beat, and looked over to where she was staring; both of them seemed to almost immediately recognize him, despite the fact that he didn't share the sentiment.

The two girls erupted in a fit of more giggles, which snapped Helga out of her Arnold trance; her dusty pink face yelling at the girls in typical Pataki fashion. This didn't phase the girls however, as their giggles just transformed into laughter. Helga slapped her forehead with her palm, her face getting redder by the second and her scowl /very/ apparent on her face. The Indian girl surpressed her giggles enough to take Helga's hand and lead her out of sight; no doubt into a bathroom or something to get her cleaned up. The chestnut braces girl waved at him, and giggled some more. He waved back, sheepishly - he hoped he didn't effect her job in any way. He was just so excited to finally see her.

—

"Man, you messed up _big time_!" Gerald exclaimed when Helga was out of sight. "What if that cake was for her _boss_?! Or a really, _really_ difficult client?"

"I know, Gerald…I shouldn't have startled her." Arnold sighed. At least there weren't very many people around who saw; this was a weekday after school.

"What if that cake is the _last chance_ she had to save her job? And now she's _behind schedule_?!"

"Gerald…" Arnold warned.

"What if she spent _weeks_ perfecting that cake, and she was _almost done_?!"

"Gerald!' Arnold whined. "I already feel really bad about it." He sat down against the wall of the structure. "I should have _known_ she would have had a reaction like this…"

Gerald and Phoebe looked at each other started laughing. "Relax, man! This place is pretty chill. She'll be fine." Gerald gave him a light punch to the shoulder.

"Gerald's right, Arnold. Helga has impeccable performance at this bakery and the higher ups would never reprimand her for a simple mistake like this. If anything, she'll reprimand herself enough." Phoebe gave him a reassuring smile as she tried to make him feel better, but that last part made Arnold feel worse. He got up and started pacing, where he then noticed that the chestnut-braces girl kept looking at him while she was fixing Helga's cake.

After about ten minutes of being stared at every few seconds by the giggling braces girl, she ran to the window and gave him a series of weird, complicated, drawn-out gestures. Arnold didn't know what to do with them, so he looked around and pointed to himself. "Me?" he mouthed to her.

He heard Gerald sigh. He knocked on the glass to get her attention. "Mabel, _man_ just _tell_ him what to _do_." he said loud but firm, and clearly enunciating each word so she could read his lips. He was clearly exasperated by her actions. Gerald seemed to know this girl pretty well, since she nodded without hesitation and started to follow his orders. She made a big, flamboyant pointing gesture - and she was _clearly_ also making some sound effects. She pointed him to the left, which is close to where the park "ended" - there was a gate, and on the other side was the public.

He followed her instruction, and Gerald and Phoebe followed close behind. Next to the fence there was an almost-hidden door, painted the same color as the fake tan hut. It had be one of their employee entrances. Behind him, he could hear Gerald muttering to Phoebe.

"She's just…excited, Gerald. I'm almost envious; one must wonder what she _does_ with all that extra energy…" he heard Phoebe reply.

"I know, babe, I know. She just gets so _tiring_ sometimes, you know? I don't know how that brother of hers _deals_ …"

Arnold tuned them out while they were talking to each other. He made a mental note to himself to ask Helga about her coworkers later. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice coming from the door.

"Just _talk_ to him! If he's everything you say he is—"

"That's the _problem_ , Conbon. He _is_ everything I say he is!" his heart fluttered as he could finally hear her voice, clear as day. "Criminy, why won't you just let me—"

"Go!" He heard the other girl's voice say as Helga was shoved out the door, hearing giggles as it closed.

"Hey!" Helga yelled as she whipped around to face the door. " _Hey_! I wasn't done _talking_ Con- _nie_! You just wait 'till I get back there and—" She shook her fist at the closed door, before suddenly cutting herself off and realizing where she was. She dropped her fist and turned around to look up at the tall, tan, football-headed man that was in front of her.

"Helga!" Arnold momentarily forgot everything that just happened and swept her up into a giant hug.

"Woah there, football head!" Helga gave a nervous laugh. "I'm kinda all covered in frosting here, wouldn't wanna get it all over you." She drolled sarcastically. He then remembered the frosting debacle and set her down quickly.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Helga! I, uh, didn't mean to get you in trouble or anything—"

"You didn't." she deadpanned. Her arms crossed over her chest, as she was almost impatient by their conversation, but her blush was giving her away. He bet that her heart was hammering in her chest, just like his was.

"—but I just, really wanted to see you." He blurted out as he gave another sheepish smile. "And I couldn't wait any longer."

"I _told_ him it was a bad idea, you know." Gerald piped up, his arms now crossed. "The boy just landed about four hours ago. Told him he should stay home and rest, man! She's workin' anyway, she doesn't wanna see your sorry face around here when she's busy! But no, the man couldn't wait another second. He just haaaad to see you. You'd think his jungle survival instincts woulda kicked in, man, you _never_ scare a Pataki in the wild."

Arnold knew that Gerald and Helga became closer after he left, and especially after Gerald and Phoebe started dating; but he was surprised with the extent of it.

Helga gave a curt sigh and looked back at Arnold. "Gerald's _right_ , football head." _Okay, hearing her say Football Head was awesome_. "Who do you think you are, showing up at my place of _business_ , uninvited, and-and just decide to just _wave_ at me, huh? Who…who gave you the _right_?!" Her voice cracked a little towards the end. She started pacing. "I had _things_ to _do_ today, Arnold-o! I've got a _big_ order to fill you know!" He almost wanted to laugh, she sounded so much like her dad when he would talk about business - although he'd be a dead man walking if he ever admitted that to her. "I've got _three_ cakes to finish today, bucko! Three! On a _weekday_. Plus, we're _so_ behind on dinosaur egg macarons, you have _no_ idea how _fast_ they've been selling lately! And don't even get me _started_ on the new summer cookies we have to develop—" She was rambling, maybe stalling for time…or she was just so thrown off by his sudden reappearance that she didn't know what to do. She clearly did _not_ want to talk to him yet, her coworkers meddling in her affairs really threw her off too.

"I think your job is really cool, Helga. You seem to really like it." he smiled down at her. "And I can tell you're really good at it."

She stopped pacing. "Y-yeah, well, it pays the _bills_ , I guess." she shrugged as her blush deepened. "And thanks, I _am_ good at it. And my coworkers aren't half-bad…when they aren't trying to ruin my life." Arnold was a bit taken aback about how casually she accepted the compliment; it was a vast improvement from when they were younger.

"Oh, yeah, them." He laughed, and then stopped as he remembered something. "Oh, doesn't Lila work here too? I remember from her letters that she was really excited to, um, have you start working at the bakery too."

Helga paled, her blush leaving her face as she suddenly turned cold. "Yeah, uh she's…actually kinda cool." She said quietly. "She's great, in fact. Sorry she's not, you know, _here_." She snapped. "She usually closes since she has first period open. I'll tell her how _disappointed_ you were that she wasn't here." She looked away, her arms crossing again.

"I didn't mean it like that, and you know it. She actually still wrote to me, is all." He regretted what left his lips as soon as it did; but it came out too quickly. He saw her eyes open wide, and her hand went to rest over her heart, but only for a second. "What—whatever!" she breathed out, her stance becoming aggressive. "Like I even have _time_ to w-write you dumb letters anymore. A-and it's n-not like my life is anything _interesting_ , y'know, unlike _yours_!" She exclaimed. She glanced over at Gerald and Phoebe, who looked a little surprised at her outburst, but also not surprised at the same time. She shrunk back down.

"I mean…" she croaked, trying to find the right words to say. "I just…" She looked away, releasing her hands from their fists. "What are you _doing_ here?" She asked softly, looking back up at him with her large, diamond blue eyes that were searching his for an answer to her question.

He chose to take the question quite literally, or maybe he didn't really know how else to take it. "I uh…m-my parents felt like it was time to settle down. Grandma and Grandpa are getting older, and…" his hand went to rub his neck nervously. "Mom and Dad are kind of…ready to settle down too. I-It's really great seeing you again. I missed you…a lot."

She was quiet for a few seconds. "Well, that's just _dandy_." She sighed, and then relaxed a bit. "I mean, it's…nice…to see you too. I missed you, I guess. But I really do have to get back to work, regardless of what my meddling coworkers might think. But maybe we can…catch up once I'm off." She looked at Gerald and Phoebe. "Since ya'll are soooo good at making plans _without_ informing me, maybe you two can decide where we all go this evening after I get off." She waved them off and headed back to the door, leaving a slightly guilty-looking Gerald and a very guilty-looking Phoebe. Before she disappeared completely, she met Arnold's eyes one more time.

"Welcome back, Arnold."

* * *

lol. connie is from steven universe, and mabel is from gravity falls. this isn't a crossover or anything - but for me it is too hard and boring to use OCs so i just steal from other shows haha. hopefully it's easier for you guys to imagine the characters, too. also i know they should probably be wearing hairnets, but i don't like that aesthetic lol

tbh i don't know if this is going to end up as an arnold + helga story. it'll definitely deal with their relationship but i really don't know if they will end up as a couple or not. lol stay tuned…or not. i understand.

this is my first actual fanfic in a few years so i'm a bit rusty, let me know if anything seems off or if the characters are a bit wonky. if the characterization is right, please tell me that too! i love reviews hehe.

ALSO one more thing; please forgive me if my baker terminology is off. i actually work in a facility that makes fake cakes, so i know a little about decorating, but not real cake decorating. feel free to correct me if i got something wrong and i will fix it!


	2. Chapter 2

When Helga closed the door behind her, she was immediately met with her starry-eyed coworker. "So?! How was it?! Did you two reunite and —" She went on and on, rambling about some quasi-romantic young-adult-novel material.

"Criminy, Connie! I cannot be _lieve_ you let me just…make a fool out of myself out there! I'm a _mess_! Besides, I did no such thing, especially not at work on a ten-minute break, with frosting residue all over me." She huffed, and crossed her arms again. "And I don't even know if he feels the same way anymore…and I'm kinda, you know, I have that thing… with Mabel's brother right now. I have a _multitude_ of reasons why it didn't work out." She waved Connie off, as an attempt to stop the conversation.

Connie giggled. "Two boys? My my, Miss Pataki! Scandalous, very scandalous indeed!" Helga, still blushing, gently nudged Connie with her elbow but laughed along with her. "Shut up, Con, you know it isn't like that."

Connie calmed down and re-adjusted her glasses. "I know, I know. But it's still _exciting_ , and _very_ romantic. It's like a young adult novel!" She grinned. Man, she loved those young adult novels. They both headed back into the decorating area. "Just…don't forget about Mason, you know."

Helga looked at Connie with surprise. "I didn't forget. Did you?" she asked, scoffing.

Both girls headed back to their respective stations. They still needed to be there for the guests, and actually, you know, make stuff, despite the teenage drama.

"Sooooo? How did it go with your oooold booooyfriendddd?" Mabel asked, a curious but nosey look on her face. Helga guessed they wouldn't be churning out a lot of finished product today. Thanks, Arnoldo.

Helga rolled her eyes. "As well as you'd _expect_ , Shooting Star. I was already a nervous wreck just looking at the guy. I wasn't even planning on going out there, and no thanks to you two _meddling kids_ , I totally freakin' embarrassed myself in front him. And, newsflash, I just went on a date with your twin brother - why do guys you care so much about an ex boyfriend?" Criminy, she was already getting the third degree after talking to the guy for five minutes. She started gathering more color mixing supplies to remake that frosting - thank goodness she wrote that recipe down, it really did take her all day yesterday to find the right stupid color.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that…" Mabel drifted off.

"What?!" Both Connie and Helga exclaimed. "How could you just _forget_ that your _favorite_ coworker and your _twin_ brother were—"

"Your story is just sooooo _romantic_!" Mabel gushed. "Two star-crossed lovers, separated by thousands of miles, who've known each other since they were in _diapers_ , a mysterious jungle adventure to find his _lost explorer parents_ , and he has a magical _destiny_?! Besides, you've been in love with him since you were _three_. _Years. OLD_!" She yelled, clearly investing a lot of her emotional energy into this situation. "It's like an anime movie!" Mabel sighed. Helga groaned, and started regretted telling her coworkers her entire life story. But hey, it was nice to tell _someone_ about everything that happened to her throughout her years, and these girls had the benefit of not knowing who she was, not knowing her reputation when she started working here. These girls were nice, they were her friends, they were supportive…almost too supportive.

"Yeah, well, don't get any ideas, _ladies_. I don't exactly have any wild plans to seduce Arnold. Not like he'd _want_ that, but…" she sighed. "Whatever. Plus, hell-ooo, don't forget about your brother, Mabes. We just went on a date, for cripe's sake."

"Well, YOU better not forget either, missy! Because if you break any hearts, or bones, of Dipper's….you'll have to answer to _me_." Mabel said, glaring at Helga and pointing at her eyes and then pointing at Helga's.

She raised an eyebrow, but then burst out in laughter. "I know, Mabes! I know."

They all worked in silence for a few minutes before Connie broke it and asked another question about Arnold.

—

"And like, I'm just _standin'_ there, you know, like a _heckin idiot_ ,—"

"Hello everyone, good afternoon!" Lila chimed as she walked in. The three girls looked up at her and said their greetings.

"Oh, Helga, I have some wonderful news for you!" Lila clapped her hands together as she clocked in for the day and started gathering her uniform and supplies.

Helga sighed. as she looked up from her frosting. "Yeah yeah, Arnold's back, I know. I've already alerted the media and scheduled a _press conference_." She went back to work.

Lila's eyes went wide. "Does that mean you saw him?" Lila went over to her, momentarily forgetting to, you know, get ready for the day and actually work.

Helga groaned, not wanting to put up with another coworker who was enamored with Arnold's recent arrival. "Did _you_?"

"No, Helga. Gerald just sent me a text…I'm certain it was a group text." Lila said, a puzzling look on her face.

"Well, WE saw him!" Connie exclaimed, stars in her eyes and excitement on her face. "He wanted to come _here_ first to see _Helga_!" Sometimes, when Connie got too excited, she couldn't read the atmosphere. And Helga _really_ didn't want to talk to Lila about Arnold right now, so it was definitely one of those times.

Helga glared at Connie and sighed. "Yeah, football head came here…" She gestured to her dirty apron and shoes. "And he surprised the heck out of me. What kind of guy just shows up at your freakin' place of employment after being gone for five years? Without even telling you?!" Her blush started to return. "Who…who even _does_ that…"

"Gosh, Helga, I just think it's ever so romantic that he wanted to come see you as soon as possible…" she giggled. "He cares about you an awful lot."

"Yeah, _lucky me_." Her eyes narrowed as she returned to her color mixing. "How are the designs going for the summer line of cookies, Li?" she asked, pretty desperate to change the subject.

"Oh! I got to work on the designs today at the library, I think they're just so gosh darn _cute_ …" Helga was relieved that Lila was so into her summer project that she forgot all about the A-word, at least for now.

The rest of the day played off normal, for the most part. Helga looked at the designs for the summer cookies, and they were actually pretty cute.

There was the occasional question about Arnold that either Helga tried to reflect or Lila answered honestly. After about two hours, it was almost time for Helga to get off work. She started to clean up her area while she waited for Mabel and Connie to go wash their dishes. When they finally left, she called out to get Lila's attention.

"You, uh…you still wrote to him, Li?" Helga asked, making Lila's head pop up.

She nodded as she continued to pipe some macarons onto a cookie sheet. "Oh, of course. He was always so nice in his letters…we weren't _ever so_ close when he, um…when he…left, but I don't think many of our classmates wrote to him regularly after the first year. I can only imagine how lonely he got—"

"Yeah, yeah, _yeah_ , I get it Lila! The poor boy who abandoned all his friends—" she stopped herself. "Ugh, sorry. I don't mean that…" Helga started to get flustered. "Criminyl! I don't know what's wrong with me! I just…wanna act like I'm 12 years old again or something whenever he gets brought up…" she rubbed her eyes, almost acting like a reset button for her. "I just…want to know what you, uh, w-wrote about, I guess. He knew I worked here…" she trailed off quietly.

"Oh! I, um, pardon me, I know you really didn't want Gerald and Phoebe to mention you in their letters very often, but, well, you see—"

Helga sighed and a small smile appeared on her lips. "Let me guess, I never specifically _asked you_ not to talk about me, right?"

Lila was fidgeting with her piping bag as she spoke. "W-well, yeah! A-and, gosh, I'm ever so sorry Helga, but I was just so gosh darn excited for you to work at the bakery with me, especially since I know how hard you worked a-and how proud Olga and I were of your cakes, you know, gosh, you- you worked so hard and for so long I just felt like, you know, I should tell _someone_ how proud I was…y-you know, and I really thought that he'd be proud of you too—"

Interrupting her rambling, Helga let out a small laugh. "It's okay, Li. I woulda used the same loophole, too." She shot Lila one of her wide, sarcastic smiles. "He better not be expecting a world-class cake form yours truly," she resumed cleaning up her area, her time almost up for the day. "Because he won't be getting one any time soon. He's gotta pay for that stunt he pulled, making me spill frosting all over this gorgeous uniform."

Lila gave a small huff. "You just hold the bag so gosh-darn _tight_ , Helga. You know, I'm not a gambling man, but I'm willing to bet that the reason you spilled frosting all over yourself is—"

"Can it, Sawyer! Yeah I _know_ I might hold the bag a little tight but it wasn't my _fault_ this time, I _swear_!"

Holding up a hand to cover her mouth as she laughed, Lila giggled. "Maybe so. But I, um…I never really gave him any photos of your cakes, or anything. I described some of them to him, like the one you made for my birthday last year…but I felt like they should be seen in person."

Helga gave her a smile and rolled her eyes. She was lucky to have Lila as a friend, even if she gushed a bit too much. "If he wants to see them, I guess." she shrugged. "They really aren't _that_ amazing, by the way." she rolled her eyes again. "But whatever. I'll give the public what it wants."

—

Helga was so relieved to leave work when it hit 6:30 PM. She only worked four hour shifts when she worked on school days, and she's usually content with staying longer if she has to—she sometimes even wants to— but tonight she really needed a shower and she really needed time to decompress. As she opened the door, another employee was coming in to help Lila close. She gave him a head nod as he waved and went into the building.

Once she was out, she checked her phone as she was walking towards the employee parking lot. She got a text from Phoebe earlier.

 _Pheebs: Slausen's at 8:00 p.m?_

Oh, right. She totally forgot about her little throwaway jab she took at Gerald and Phoebe. It's not like she wasn't usually up for a late-night outing on a school night, but she was really looking forward to being by herself after the debacle that was today's shift.

 _Helga: i mean i can't really eat ice cream anymore, but you know, whatever. i'll just deal with the stomachache._

After hitting send, she started checking her social media notifications. She wasn't as big on social media like some people were ( _Rhonda_ ), but she enjoyed reading funny tweets and watching a few youtubers. As she was scrolling her feed to see what happened while she was at work, she got a reply from her best friend.

 _Pheebs: My apologies, Helga. Your lactose intolerance completely swept my mind. We can find somewhere else to eat if you'd like._

Okay, Phoebe really didn't deserve her snappy, punctuation-filled lowercase-aesthetic response. In Phoebe's defense, Helga's only been lactose intolerant for the last few months - she unfortunately developed it at a later age. Which really, really bites.

 _Helga: No I mean, I'll really deal with the stomachache. criminy, I've really missed ice cream_

She sent that message before she _really_ read it again, totally not realizing her double meaning until it was too late. It's not like Phoebe would remember a dumb little thing like her Arnold codename from 4th grade, right?

 _Pheebs: I read you loud and clear ;)_

Oh fuck. Uhhh….

 _Helga: You know what I mean! And I have a boyfriend, you know!_

 _Why does everyone forget that?_

Would Dipper and Arnold even get along? Well, even if they didn't, it's not like it was _that_ important. And Dipper wasn't even her _official_ boyfriend or anything - they went on a few dates; he was fun to be around, she liked goofing on him, and she liked being the straight man to his nervous, rambling, cryptic-obsessed self when she accompanied him on a paranormal hunt. They'd just have to learn to deal if they didn't get along…if they ever met.

She was still unsure about Arnold's feelings towards her. There had to be _something_ , right? With their history, with the way he practically begged Gerald to take him to see her at work, how excited he was, his letters, even the way _everyone else around them_ ever acted around them, ever.

She just didn't know the extent of it. And of course she still had some residual feelings for him; but how do you react to your ex-boyfriend coming back to see you after almost five years out of the country? She didn't know him anymore; and he didn't know her. Sure, they exchanged letters for a year or two - but hers were short and almost painfully boring because that's as much as she could manage to get out. _Criminy, I couldn't even send them my damn self; they were addendum to Gerald's or Phoebe's letters._

Regardless, she was still coming to her senses. Really; the whole thing was bizarre. She didn't even know—

"Hey, wait a minute." She said to herself out loud, stopping in her tracks in the middle of the employee parking lot. "How did Gerald know Arnold was coming back? And did Phoebe know too? And they didn't _tell me_?!" She yelled to the sky, or any unfortunate employee who was around, really - she _was_ in a semi-public place. "Who do they think they _are_?!"

"Oh yeah, you loon." She realized. _You told them not to mention you in their letters, and not to mention him to you at all. What a freakin' idiot_. Her thoughts brought her back from her seething rage. Well, she was still seething, but she couldn't really be mad at them for doing exactly what she asked them to do. It was her own damn fault for being so neurotic. Her phone buzzing in her tightly-gripped hand brought her back to reality.

 _Pheebs: I am just engaging in a little juvenile teasing, you know. I am aware the relationship between you and Arnold is complicated, and you are also in a budding relationship with Mason._

 _Helga: yeah yeah yeah, it's all good pheeeeebz_

 _Pheebs: I also want to apologize for my role in bringing Arnold to the bakery this afternoon. I thought it would be a good idea, but I now realize I should have taken your feelings into more careful consideration and weighed the pros and cons of my decision_ —

She didn't read the rest of the reply before she just typed one out and sent her own.

 _Helga: cRiminy phoebes its okay just stop apologizing criminY! i love you holy crap!_

—

Helga got home at about 7:00. Luckily, Slausen's wasn't that far away, so she could skip the shower, and just change out of her uniform and have some time to relax. As soon as she opened the door, though, she was bombarded…as usual.

"Baby sister! How was work today? Did you work on— oh gosh, oh Helga, what happened? Did you have another frosting bag accident? You know, Lila tells me that she thinks that, um, _sometimes_ , you might hold to frosting bag a little too tight—"

Oh yeah. There was still dried frosting in her hair, staining part of her bangs blue. She ran her hand through her bangs and felt the hard frosting chunks—grooooossss.

"I'm _fine_ , Olga. Someone just…gave me an honest spook at work today, that's all." She didn't want to get into the whole 'Arnold's back!' thing with her right now. "And I hold the bag just _fine_ , thank you very much." She started to head upstairs. "I'm going to take a shower, I'm meeting Gerald and Phoebe at Slausen's. I won't be gone long. So don't wait up."

"Oh, wonderful! Is Arnold going too?"

She flinched. "Criminy! _Why_ does everyone keep _bugging_ me about that guy? How do you even know about that anyway?! Are you stalking me or something?!"

"Of course not, baby sister! Lila just told me that he came back today, and I just thought—"

"Yeah well, keep your thoughts to yourself, _Ol-ga_ , I don't wanna talk about him right now, okay? _Yes_ , he's coming to Slausen's too, alright? I don't even want to _go_ but I guess the whole thing was technically my idea. Ugh." She went up a few steps before she realized how her tone sounded, then stepped back down to see Olga again.

"S-sorry…about that… outburst. Y-you know how…weird I get when he's brought up." She said quietly.

Olga just smiled. "It's okay, baby sister. Now get in that shower, silly! You don't want to keep your friends waiting!"

Helga gave her sister a small smile as she climbed the stairs fully and went into the bathroom to prepare her shower. She didn't think it would ever happen in her lifetime, but she had a better relationship with her sister after she had to move back in. It was hell for the first few months, but they both learned to deal with the other's quirks and sensitivities. It wasn't the greatest relationship, or the healthiest - and Olga _always_ got on her nerves - but she was really trying this time around.

It was now 7:10, so she was running on borrowed time. She took her phone out and brought up the group text between her, Phoebe, and Gerald.

 _Helga: I might be late. Forgot frosting was in my hair lol. I need to take a shower and put laundry on. don't wait up if you guys get there before me._

She started to undress and prepare her shower when she got a reply.

 _Gerald: Man, hurry up. They couldn't send you home early or some shit?_

 _Helga: RUDE! And no, they couldn't. It's called a job, bucko, they dont really pay you if you leave._

 _Gerald: take your damn shower already pataki lmao_

 _Pheebs: Thank you for informing us, Helga. Please let us know what we can order for you so it will be ready for you when you get here. [sparkly heart emoji]_

 _Helga: thank u! see gerald, your girlfriend is a saint [sparkle heart emoji]_

 _Pheebs: While I appreciate the sentiment, you should really get in that damn shower already._

Heeding her friend's advice, she jumped in the shower. A few minutes later, she realized that _oh, I never really gave them an order_. She reached out for her towel, dried her hands, and then reached for her phone, almost blindingly typing a text out to the group chat.

 _Helga: chocolate shake please…and a double cheeseburger with onion rings. YES my stomach is gonna kill me later but u know idgaf rn…_

It wasn't until she started getting dressed after her shower that she realized Arnold was added to the group chat right after Phoebe's message.

 _Unknown: Can't wait to see you tonight, Helga! [sunglasses emoji face]_

"CRIMINY" she yelled as she threw her phone angrily on her bed. "It's the _first_. _day._ _back_! He just won't _leave_!"

* * *

thank you all so much for your review/favs/follows! i really appreciate it! please let me know what you liked about this chapter - i'm trying to stay in character but i know this is quite a different interpretation of helga, and helga and arnold's relationship in general. let my know if my characters are off or on!

thanks guys!


	3. Chapter 3

After visiting Helga at work, which probably wasn't a good idea - not like Gerald was rubbing it in, oh no - the two boys decided to hang out at Arnold's while Phoebe went back to her house to do homework. They agreed to discuss plans for a meet up later.

"So, uhh…you guys…are you and Helga pretty good friends?" Arnold asked once they settled in his old room. Gerald was helping him unpack, like the good friend he was, and still before the dude can utter a 'thank you', he's gotta ask about Helga.

Gerald gave a long, dramatic sigh. "Maaaan, there's nothin' I like better, on a spring afternoon, after seeing my best friend for the first time in four and half years, than to talk about his childhood bully. mm, mm, _mmm_. Absolutely _nothin'_ I'd rather be doing."

"Gerald…"

"Hanging; out, playing video games? Or maybe a rousing game of Monopoly? Nahhh, man! I just wanna talk about Helga _all day long_."

"Come on, Gerald! I've been gone a long time, I'm just trying to piece it together." Arnold pressed.

"Alright, alright! But seriously, can we have some guy time soon?" Gerald asked. Arnold nodded, and Gerald sighed again. "Alright, man. To answer your question… _yeah_. I guess, you know. She uhh…really mellowed out. I mean, she is pretty funny when you're not the one she's pickin on, you know?"

Arnold gave a small smile. "Yeah…"

"Yeah…" Gerald mimicked him, batting his eyelashes. Arnold gave him a playful shove as they both laughed. "And Phoebe and I spend a lot of time with her. Lila comes along sometimes if we need a twosome, too. We have fun, man. She ain't half bad."

"That's really great to hear, Gerald." Arnold smiled. "I'm glad you two became friends. Did Phoebe convince you to give her a chance?"

"Well, yeah, kind of, I guess. She uh…" he cleared his throat. "Well, look, I'm gonna level with you, buddy. After you left…"

"Uh oh." Arnold cringed. "That bad, huh?"

"She just… _really_ needed some friends. She wasn't really herself, you know? Kinda…withdrawn, I guess. I don't remember much of it, but I do remember Phoebe freaking _out_. You know, I didn't really care much at the time…" he shrugged. "I didn't really know what was going on very much, either. I didn't pry. I just know she was real sad and… _apathetic_. So Phoebe and I would just…hang out with her, watch movies and stuff when her sister or Lila couldn't be around. It was almost like we took shifts or somethin', man…" he gave a hollow laugh at the memory.

"But she did get better, right?" Arnold asked, voice almost panicky, bringing Gerald back to reality.

"Man, of course she did!" Gerald replied, throwing his hands up in the air. That boy… "You _just_ saw her, did that look _withdrawn_ to you?" Gerald shook his head. "You _gotta_ learn to read the atmosphere better…" he sighed again. "But, _yeah,_ things got better…eventually." Gerald shrugged. Arnold was about to ask what exactly he meant, when he was interrupted by his parents knocking on the door, asking if the boys wanted a snack.

About an hour later, all of Arnold's items were unpacked and his room was cleaned. He didn't have much stuff; just clothes and a few momentos from his travels. Most of the time was spent cleaning, the room was rather stale and dusty. His grandparents left the room unoccupied while he was away, and he was thankful for it.

Gerald started to text Phoebe about their plans that evening. "Slausen's sound good to you?" he hollered, and Arnold nodded yes.

After their plans were set up, the two boys finally had some time to relax. Gerald brought his handheld gaming system with him, and he was updating Arnold on how far video games have progressed since he left.

"Oh, Helga's going to be a little late, I guess." Gerald piped up when he received her text, as they were getting ready to leave. "She wants to get that frosting out of her hair, _hah_!" Gerald snorted. "Classic."

"Oh." Arnold blushed slightly. "I hope she knows how sorry I am…"

Gerald rolled his eyes. "She does, believe me. And she even told you how much it wasn't a big deal. So cool it, will ya?" he texted back a response.

"Man, that girl _better_ get in that _damn_ shower…"

-

"Greetings, you two. Arnold, I take it you already know Helga will be joining us a bit later." Phoebe said as she met the two boys outside Slausen's.

"Yup." Arnold replied. "She had to, uhh, wash her hair right?" Gerald started laughing, but Arnold wasn't amused.

Phoebe giggled. "Yes, she did. I hope you don't mind that I added you to our group text, it just makes communicating much more simple."

"Oh, no, it's totally fine! It's nice to have an easy way to talk to all of you." He brought out his flip phone and showed it to Phoebe as they started walking inside the restaurant. "Gerald says I should get a new phone, but I like this one. It's sturdy. What do you think, Phoebe?"

"I _told_ him it looks like a grandpa phone. You can't do anything on that brick, man! You need to get with the twenty-first century!"

Phoebe examined the phone. "While I agree that it is sturdy, and apt for adventuring through rugged terrain and more humid temperatures, I do have to agree with Gerald on this matter. To adapt to _this_ environment, you need a more modern phone with less protection, but more features."

"I just got this phone last year!" Arnold exclaimed. "It's practical." he shrugged. "But, I'm using a travel SIM card anyway, so I'll need to get a new one soon."

The three of them sat down at a booth near the window. Arnold was excited to be back in one of his childhood hangouts; this place held a lot of memories for him. He often daydreamed about their banana splits or their milkshakes while he was in South America. Unsurprisingly, he didn't get to eat many American delicacies while he was on humanitarian missions in the jungle. They placed their orders once the waitress came around - gosh, he was so excited for that banana split.

"So, what's been going on while I've been gone?" Arnold asked, eager to get the scoop on their childhood friends.

Both Phoebe and Gerald spoke about their previous classmates, helping each other with the specifics. Oh, Rhonda is doing very well for herself, she convinced her parents to invest in an upcoming cosmetics company—and its new line is set to debut this fall, right?; Harold works for Mr. Green after school sometimes— he's learning a lot, he might take over the shop one day; Sid and Stinky filmed a Vine that went viral a few years ago — oh sorry, well Vine is, er, _was_ this website where you upload six second videos—

The couple was interrupted by their phones buzzing at the same time. Phoebe and Gerald looked at each other, then looked at their phones.

"Oh…Helga is on her way." Phoebe announced curtly after she checked her message. Gerald put his phone away and didn't say anything.

"She…didn't like that I was included in the group message, did she?" Arnold asked after noticing that their phones buzzed, but his didn't.

"It might have been…premature for us to include you, Arnold, I'm sorry. This day must have been exhausting for her, and we gave her no warning of your return." Phoebe grimaced. "And after I _just_ apologized for the bakery incident…" she muttered to herself.

 _The Bakery Incident_. Great. It has a _name_ now.

"Yeah…I kinda forgot how little can overwhelm her, sometimes." Gerald responded. "She'll come around, man." he patted Arnold on the shoulder. "She's just real emotional sometimes, remember?"

Arnold cracked a sad smile at that. "Yeah, I remember." he sighed.

"Oh…Arnold…one more thing before Helga arrives. She's currently dating her coworker's twin brother, so could you do us a favor and keep that in mind?" Phoebe asked, almost not realizing what a bombshell she was dropping on Arnold. "Maybe keep your stares and lingering touches to a minimum."

The waitress came back with their food and started dispersing it to the three teenagers.

"Oh she's…dating someone? Um…good for her." Arnold replied.

"Double cheeseburger, chocolate shake, onion rings?" The waitress asked. All three of them pointed to the blank seat next to Phoebe.

"Phoebe! Baaaabe!" Gerald whined, the waitress not affecting their dialogue one bit. "A little compassion for my main man, here? A little finesse, maybe? Sorry, Arnold, I should have told you earlier. I totally forgot that she started dating Dipper. I can't make excuses for that delivery, though. Come _on_ , babe. Wow."

"No, no. it's fine." Arnold held up his hand and gave a small nervous laugh. "I prepared for this. I didn't expect her to stay single…she's just so great…I knew once she got older, more people would start to notice her."

"Alright, cool it, loverboy. Look, she's almost here." Gerald pointed at her in the window. She pretty much looked the same from earlier, except she was wearing two buns instead of one (with two itty bitty bows, he noticed), and she wasn't wearing the fake jungle uniform they made her wear. Instead, she was wearing an oversized black sweatshirt that said…

" _Best Dad in the Universe_?" Arnold read out loud, squinting. "But she isn't…a dad?" Arnold asked, confused. "…Right?"

Gerald started laughing. "Oh man! Alright, I guess I gotta explain something to you real quick. See, there's this thing called _ironic clothing_ …"

Ugh. The States were really, really weird sometimes.

"So you wear that sweater because it's…funny? Right?" Arnold asked after Helga got inside and sat down across from him.

"Yeah," Helga said as she took a big bite of her cheeseburger. "It's funny because I'm a teenage girl, not a middle-aged dad." She said, not caring that her mouth was full. "Get it? Plus, the space graphic is pretty sweet, right?" she looked down at her sweatshirt. "Got it for a buck fifty. Isn't it hideous? I love it." she said dryly as she continued eating her burger but quit talking to him.

Helga didn't say much after their exchange about her outfit, she mostly listened as Phoebe and Gerald continued to speak about the past few years, sometimes interjecting with her own details. She was mostly on her phone, or looking out the window. She seemed distant, even more distant than she was earlier. At least she said she _missed_ him earlier, right?

So Sid and Stinky had a taste of internet fame for a little bit, they did have a YouTube prank channel with Harold, but it was low-key pretty awful—Arnold made a mental note to ask Gerald if he could see it later. Nadine got to spend last summer at the University of Nebraska for their entomology studies program for high schoolers, and she plans to go there for college— _Even though Rhonda would rather be dead in Washington than alive in Nebraska_ , Helga joked.

"Eugene produced the Spring musical; it was a fantastic rendition of _Grease_. If I recall correctly, Lorenzo was Danny, Rhonda was Rizzo, and Stinky was actually Kenickie. He surprisingly preformed very well; I had no idea he was interested in the performing arts." Phoebe said.

"Rhonda made a _great_ Rizzo, actually." Helga chimed in. "Color me surprised, but she really knocked it out of the park." she took a sip of her second chocolate milkshake. "I wanted to try out for that part, but I didn't want to lose hours at work." She shrugged. " _Gotta_ have my _cakes_." she smirked, and she was obviously referencing something, as evidenced by Gerald and Phoebe's smirks and exhaling laughter, but Arnold didn't understand it. He figured this would happen a lot. That's what happens when you're gone for almost five years - you miss a lot of small things. Inside jokes, pop culture references, memories that seem insignificant but are developmentally important in a friendship. He chose this life, and it's not like he regretted the choice to spend time with his parents in the jungle…but man, he didn't feel like being left out.

"Speaking of cakes…can I see some?" Arnold asked as he started to eat his dessert. "O-of yours, I mean. Can I see some of the cakes you decorated?"

Helga coughed a bit. "Uh, sure, I guess." She gave a one-arm shrug, and took out her phone. She tapped on it for a few seconds. "Go wild." She held out her phone to him across the table, nonchalantly and he took it, eagerly.

It was her _Cake Album._ Arnold scrolled through each photo, carefully looking at the details. One cake was a dark, midnight blue with hues of purple and dark pink; another was a light blue with perfect pink rosettes and white polka dots; a third was a delicate ombre red-to-white with strawberry roses adorning the top. One after another, they continued to amaze him.

"Wow, Helga, these are really good!"

"Yeah, you kinda _get good_ at something you do for nine months straight." She said as she looked straight ahead, but not at him, sipping her milkshake some more. Arnold chuckled, but he noticed that Gerald and Phoebe exchanged slightly worried looks - it wasn't a joke.

He stopped once he got to a tall, brown cake. It looked like a volcano - it was beautiful. The mountain was dark brown, and it looked like it had a rough texture. The lava at the top looked like it was frozen fire. More lava cascaded down the cone shape; red orange and yellow frosting flowing along the volcano, and rested on the base, which was a bright green color, littered with trees.

"Oh, yeah." she said, looking over at her phone. "I remember that one was a pain in the ass. I made the spouting lava at the top out of melted lollipops. Man, that one took forever. The little kid was pretty excited, though. So I guess all the effort was worth the dumb smile on his face or something, I don't know." she shrugged. "That one took a while, but it's a nice add to the portfolio."

"It's amazing! It kinda looks like the one we saw in San Lorenzo, remember?" Arnold asked excitedly.

"I mean, I don't know. It was for some rich kid's dinosaur party, I just looked up pictures of volcanos for reference. Criminy, I probably looked at three hundred of them." She crossed her arms and stopped looking at her phone with him. "Not _everything_ has to involve you." she added, quietly.

He felt a bit hurt at that statement. Was she not happy to see him?

Phoebe and Gerald looked at each other again, and could seem to sense the tension in the air. "O-oh, why don't you keep scrolling? I think Lila's birthday cake is my personal favorite…here, let me show you, I have a photograph…" Phoebe fiddled with her own phone. "It was breathtaking…dark emerald, gold accents, maroon…oh, it was lovely. I mean, you'd assume with those colors that they wouldn't complement each other, but it was the complete opposite…" she stuck out her phone for Arnold to see.

"I dunno, man, I think Stinky's cake was _my_ favorite. A lemon pudding cake _and_ a Beyonce reference all in one? I gotta say that one…really _takes the cake_." Gerald and Phoebe giggled at his joke. "It was black, gold, and yellow. She even made little fondant lemons too!"

Helga tried to look like she was indifferent, but her blush on her face gave it away. "Alright, alright. Enough of that nonsense." she said as she took her phone back from Arnold. "Why don't you pull up your YouTube channel and show him some of your basketball highlights or something, friendo."

"Good idea!"

Once Helga was done with her second milkshake, she stood up to leave.

"Alright, see you guys at school tomorrow." She fished some money out of her shorts pocket and set it on the table. "I'm going to bed. See ya." She gave a short, sarcastic wave as she walked towards the entrance.

"Wait, are you leaving already?" Arnold called out to her, even though she was at the door. She gave another wave without looking back over her shoulder to indicate _yeah, I am leaving already. Boy, bye._ And then she walked out the door.

Arnold scrambled to get out of the booth and chase after her. She left so suddenly, he wasn't prepared for it. He didn't want the night to end just yet - he was having so much fun just being around her.

"Did you want to come over?" He called out to her once he got outside.

Helga turned around and quirked an eyebrow. "Uh, no?" she said, without a hint of remorse in her voice. She turned back around to continue walking.

Arnold's face fell. "Well, maybe just for a little bit? My parents—they were really excited when they found out I was going to see you tonight. They, um, want to see you too."

"I said _no._ " she growled.

"Please?" Arnold called out one more time.

Helga gritted her teeth as she turned around sharply. "Holy _balls_ Arnold, it's 9:45 on a _Wednesday night_. I have an AP Lit test tomorrow, and I worked today, and I'm _tired._ You think the world just _stops_ when you get back in town? Criminy, get _over_ yourself!" Helga yelled. "I didn't even _want_ to come along but I didn't want to be rude, either."

"Oh, um, sorry, I didn't think—"

"I mean, you decide to show up out of freakin' nowhere, and you can't _leave me alone_!" she yelled. "You showed up to my _work_? And then my coworkers wouldn't shut up about you, and then Lila came on and couldn't shut up about you either, a-and then—fucking, this _whole thing_ ; heck, even _Olga_ knew you were here?" Her voice started to crack. "And then they fucking add you to the group chat? _Our fucking_ _group chat_? _Who do you think you are_?"

They were both silent for a few seconds, Helga still raging over her outburst and Arnold trying to process it.

"Helga, I'm really sorry. I didn't know that this would overwhelm you so much. We—we can start over—I just didn't think—"

"Well you should _start_ thinking." She sighed, and slid down the brick wall of the alley they were in. "I'm sorry…for yelling." she wiped a stray tear that fell out of her eye (it _wasn't_ because she was crying, it was because she had _allergies, duh_ ). "I went through a lot…when you left. And it wasn't _just_ because of you, before that big head of yours gets even bigger. I just…don't want history to repeat itself, okay?"

Arnold pursed his lips, and nodded. "I'm sorry if I came on too strong. I was just really excited…" he rubbed his neck nervously. "But, you know, we can start small. Just be friends."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, everyone's just so darn _excited_ today. Seems to be today's secret word or something."

She didn't object to the "start small, be friends" part of his response, so he assumed that they were good with that. He decided to mimic her body language by sliding down the brick wall.

"You seem to apologize a lot now." Arnold said, without even thinking. That wasn't the smartest thing he said all night, as that was something that could _definitely_ set her off if she took it the wrong way. He was already on thin ice. Why did he say something so dumb?

"What?" She asked, an expression of _what the fuck are you even talking about_ apparent on her face.

"I mean…just now. You were sorry for yelling."

"Oh, yeah." she shrugged. "I'm _trying_. I'm not… _good_ at _apologizing. ….._ my… _therapist_ said I needed to 'put forth an effort' or something like that, I don't know." she rolled her eyes after she made air quotes to almost mock her therapist. But he could tell she was really taking their advice to heart. "I was…really mean when I was younger. It's a hard cycle to break. But it's easier…now. Like, when you're not around it all the time…" she was quiet for a moment. It almost seemed like she was waiting for a response, but he was waiting for her to finish her thought.

"Welp! Thanks for noticing, Arnoldo. Means a lot." she said dryly as she got up off of the floor and started walking away. "See you in the funny papers." She gave him another backwards wave.

He was about to turn around and head back into the restaurant - Gerald and Phoebe were probably wondering what was going on - when he heard Helga stop.

"Hey…" She croaked out, almost too quiet for him to hear. Her head turned backwards slightly, but she wasn't facing him.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Tell your parents that I'm…sorry… I couldn't make it. And tell Phil and Gertie…thanks, for me, will ya?"

"S-sure, Helga."

She turned her head and smiled. "Thanks, Football Head."

And with that, she walked away. 

* * *

sorry if this chapter seems kinda weird, my betas have been a little busy lately. also sorry for the late upload lol the world series was too good so i wasnt writing much

thanks for all the reviews, guys! 'preciate ya. keep em coming, they actually motivate me to upload faster.


	4. Chapter 4

When Arnold got back into the restaurant, he refused to speak about what he and Helga talked about. All he said was "She just wanted to leave," and left it at that. He tried to ignore their sympathetic pity looks, but it was clear that the hangout was over. Plus, she was right; it was a school night and Phoebe and Gerald needed to get home and rest for the next day.

Once Gerald dropped him off at the boarding house, he was bombarded as expected.

"What's wrong, son?" Miles asked. "Didn't you have fun with your friends?" Ouch. Maybe he needed to work on wearing his emotions on his face. Was it that obvious?

"Oh, y-yeah! I had a great time. It was…nice." Arnold forced out.

"Then why so glum, Shortman?" his grandpa asked from his rocking chair.

"It's just…well…."

"Let me guess, your little friend with the one eyebrow made fun of you?"

"She doesn't have one eyebrow anymore, grandpa. But…well, yeah, kind of, but it was…the opposite. Helga didn't really seem to care that I was here."

" _Hah!_ Girl trouble, I knew it." Phil slapped his knee. "I win!"

" _Grandpa_ …" Arnold scolded softly. "It's just, she seems so…distant now. But she's so nice to everyone else! I just don't get it. At least when we were kids, she pretty much made fun of everyone. And she's so confusing! Earlier today she said she missed me, but then she got mad at almost everything I did."

His mom came out of the kitchen and sat down next to her son. "Well, what did you do to her, mijo?"

Arnold gulped. "Well, okay, I'll tell you, but the first thing I did to her _was_ totally my fault…" He started listing everything Helga told him earlier; showing up at work, the group chat, ect.

"Son…" his dad started in his Dad Lecture voice. "I think you do need to give her some space."

"Your dad is right, mijo. You guys haven't spoken in a few years, and this was a lot of, well, exposure to you in a short amount of time. It sounds like Helga's patience was eroded over the course of a few hours."

"Yeah, I understand. I was just…really excited."

"Of course you were. I bet she was excited you came back, too." Stella said. "But you can't just bombard her with attention, silly."

"Also, we didn't mean we wanted to see her _tonight,_ buddy. We know it's a school night." his dad chimed in.

"Oh, right…I guess I got carried away." Arnold blushed a bit.

"Still, she'll come around if she wants to come around. Don't worry about it." Miles gave his head a ruffle.

Arnold knew his parents were right, but he still had a nagging feeling of disappointment looming over him. Looking at the clock and deciding it was a good time to take a shower (a _real_ shower!) and head to bed, he bid his parents and grandparents a good night.

Now that he was alone, he reflected on his day. He was eager to see his other classmates now that Gerald and Phoebe really updated him on their lives. Gerald already had a list of movies and video games that he's missed out on (saying something about this being "just like that one scene from _Winter Soldier_ ", whatever that was) that he can watch while all his friends were at school.

He really wished he could go to school with all his pals. The school year was almost over for them, it was May and they only had a month left. Hopefully he could join them next year. American high school seemed so fun in the movies. Well, it looked like torture _and_ fun at the same time. Regardless, he couldn't wait to experience it. He did understand the possibility of not being able to return to the public school system, and having his parents continue to homeschool him, and he accepted it. He still craved all the cliches he remembered from his childhood; he wanted to go to science lab, and join clubs, and see a football game, play on the basketball team with Gerald, and take Helga to Snow Ball and Prom.

 _Helga._

He had to admit, she looked adorable tonight. She had quite a fashion sense now...and he didn't _quite_ understand it (he thought a _Rhonda_ probably didn't understand it either), but it worked for her. He remembered getting some photos in the mail from Phoebe when she went to Japan a few years ago, she took lots of photos of street fashion. A lot of them had wild clothes and crazy color schemes, but they looked good. That's who she reminded him of; her clothes and hair were a bit weird and unconventional (okay, it was still really weird to him), but she could pull it off and make it work. And she totally looked cute in that little Dino Land/Jurassic Park uniform she had to wear, but if he ever said that to her, she'd probably punch him.

And her passion? Her cakes really _were_ breathtaking. He could tell that they were something she really cared about. There _was_ that upsetting, knowing look that Gerald and Phoebe shared earlier that he couldn't shake, though. What was that all about? He'd have to ask about that later.

After his hot shower, he decided to get a drink of water before he went to bed. To his surprise, his grandparents were still awake downstairs.

"Excited to sleep in your old bed tonight, short man?" his grandpa asked him as he entered the kitchen.

"Oh! Yeah, it'll be nice not sleeping on...the ground, or a pile of leaves." Arnold chuckled. "But it might take some getting used to." He gathered his glass and went to the sink to pour himself a glass of water. After a few seconds, a thought popped into his head.

"Hey...Grandpa? Grandma?"

"Yes, Arnold?" his grandma answered.

"Before Helga left, she wanted me to tell you guys...thank you. I don't know what it means, but she wanted me to tell you."

He saw his grandparents shared a knowing look. "Well, thanks for letting us know, Arnold. Now, why don't you get some rest now, you had a big day..." His grandpa waved him upstairs. While he kinda wanted to ask what she meant, he actually was very tired and went up to his room to get a good night's sleep.

The next day at school wasn't any better for Helga.

"Did you hear Arnold is back in town?"

 _Yes._

"Yo, did you hear Arnold is back in town?"

 _Yes._

"Did you see Arnold yet, Helga? He's in Hillwood again!"

 _Yes, I have seen him._

"I can't freakin' _escape_ the guy, Phoebe!" Helga cried as she met Phoebe at her locker in-between classes. "He's everywhere. _Everywhere_! Everyone's been asking about him all day _long_! Criminy, I feel like I'm in that one _Talking Heads_ video or something."

Phoebe shrugged. "Our classmates are just excited, Helga." There's that word again. "I'm sure the enthusiasm will die down once the initial shock wears off. There should be no worry of any long-term effects."

"I know _that,_ Pheebs _._ Just, whatever, can we talk about something else?" Helga pleaded with her best friend. "I'm tired of that football-headed jerk."

"Of course. Are you nervous about your upcoming test?"

"Oh yeah, this conversation is _much_ less anxiety inducing." Helga joked. "But uhh…I think I'll ace it. I'm pretty confident. We're actually getting our….poetry assignment back today…" she looked away, biting her lip.

"You're more nervous about your potential poetry grade than the test, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah! I mean, what kind of weird-ass poetry assignment— like, a poem for _Mother's Day?_ What are we, _four_?"

"I agree it was a bizarre assignment." Phoebe said, closing her locker. "But perhaps that's why Mr. Kirkland chose it. I'm sure he realizes that not everyone has the greatest relationship with their mothers, especially during the tumultuous teenage period. A lot of parental relationships are strained, and maybe he wanted to shed light on—"

"Alright, alright, I get it, you think he's cute!" Helga interrupted.

"Helga!" Phoebe playfully shoved her best friend. "That is _not_ the case."

"What? He can be cute and wrong at the same time. And that accent? Come _on._ " they both giggled. "But uh, for real, I _guess_ I get the assignment. My poem was just a little… _unconventional_."

"Well your situation is a little _unconventional_. I'm sure he understands that, and I doubt he would take marks off without giving you a chance to explain yourself…"

"Like I'd actually _want_ to explain myself? Ugh." The bell rang. "Alright, see you later Pheebs." Helga waved at her best friend and she headed straight for her next class.

Thankfully, her AP Lit test wasn't that hard. Before the whole Arnold Situation happened, her friends and coworkers were helping her study for the whole week. None of them had AP lit, but she gave them the study guides so they could help her. It clearly paid off, she was totally prepared for the test and nothing caught her off guard.

What _did_ catch her a bit off guard, even though she was bracing herself for it, was her poem being handed back with a red "See Me" at the top.

Okay, her poem was a bit melodramatic, but it totally sounded less scary when you imagined Beyonce reading it like in _Lemonade._ And yeah, she didn't have a warm and fuzzy relationship with her mom, or and off-and-on one, or even a misunderstood one. It was bad. But Helga didn't think her poem really warranted a "See Me." A _C-_? She could deal with a C-, but not an awkward conversation about her mother with her slightly-cute-British-bred English teacher.

Once the bell rang to signal the end of class, Helga waited until most of her classmates exited the room before approaching her teacher.

"Look, I know you want to talk to me about my poem - but it's been a rough day. Can I take a raincheck?" she asked him, hoping she could leave for the day and have time to come up with a better excuse than the truth about her mother.

This seemed to catch Mr. Kirkland off-guard.. "O-of course, if that's what you want. I just wanted to check in with you, make sure everything is alright. Your poem was…"

" _Unconventional_ , right?" she interrupted. "Look, teach, everything's alright. I just…" she sighed. "I don't…my relationship is just…" she struggled to find the right words. "My mother isn't…"

He shook his head. "Explanations are not necessary. I'm sorry, Miss Pataki, I apologize for bringing this up, I didn't know your mother has passed—"

Helga shook her head. "She…she didn't. Like I said, it's unconventional…and complicated. But everything's alright, I'm alright! I didn't want to hand in a disingenuous poem. I took a risk. I knew you might ask me about it." She shrugged. "What can I say, I have a _unique perspective_ about Mother's Day."

Mr. Kirkland looked puzzled and relieved at the same time. "Um, r-right, and I do appreciate the…different point of view. Y-you know, Miss Pataki, there _are_ resources that the school provides—"

"Yes, and I will take _full advantage_ of them if they are needed. Thank you Mr. Kirkland! See you tomorrow!" She waved at him as she made her quick exit. Ugh, that was awkward. She knew that the inquiries about her poem and about her mother from her teacher weren't over, but she was already over today. This poem business would have to be dealt with tomorrow.

"Helga, darling! Wait up!" a voice called out to her from down the hall.

 _Oh fuck._ Helga groaned, she knew that voice. That was the _I need a favor_ voice. Criminy, she had like, 45 seconds to get to her next class. "Can this wait, Princess? I'm going to be late because Mr. Kirkland—"

"Oh, nonsense, my dear, I'll get you a late pass. There _are_ perks to being on the cheer squad." Rhonda winked. "Now, let's go somewhere that we can talk…" she started leading Helga to the girl's bathroom.

"So, let's cut right to the chase." Rhonda started once they were inside and she was sure that they were alone. "As I'm sure you've heard, your Arnold—"

 _"My_ Arnold _? Bitch he ain't mine!"_ Helga snapped but Rhonda waved her off.

"Oh, you and your outbursts. Classic. Anyway, since _Arnold_ has arrived back into our humble little town, after going off into the wild, untamed jungle for half a decade, you know, scaling mountains, hiking treacherous terrain—"

 _Is she still talking? Oh my god she's still talking_

"—I have decided to throw a party in his honor! Exciting, _is it not_?" Rhonda finally finished, waiting for Helga to answer.

"Uh… I guess? What does this have to do with me?" Helga asked tentatively.

"I'm glad you asked! I would be _honored_ if _you_ would accompany our esteemed guest and bring him to the party. After all, you two are the closest, and have the most _history,_ and an entrance with the both of you, oh it would be monumental, the highlight of the party—"

"Yeah that's going to be a hard pass." Helga interrupted. "I don't, uh, really… want to go…" _Smooth, Helga._ But she wasn't a party person in the first place, and she really didn't want to deal with an Arnold-centric party. She could deal with him being there, but him being the guest of honor? Yeah, no thanks.

Rhonda's face fell. "But, it would be so _perfect!"_ She whined. "Oh could you just _imagine_? After a _horrid_ breakup in Grade 6, two _heartbroken_ lovers are separated for _half a decade_ , only to be romantically reunited at none other than _my party_ —"

"Rhonda! I said _no_! Cut it out!" Helga yelled. Criminy, she was losing her patience with all of her classmates today. And she didn't like how her voice kept cracking from all her yelling, either. She wasn't really used to this any more.

Choosing to pick her battles, Rhonda composed herself and let out a big, dramatic sigh. "Alright! I'll give. You _don't_ have to accompany him to my party—"

"Alright, thanks for your permission." Helga cut in. "Are we done here?"

"—But, can I at _least_ order one of your divine cakes for the party?" Rhonda continued, as if she were never interrupted. "Oh, I would simply _die_ if I had to go with my parent's preferred catering company. I mean, the cakes they _dare_ to pass off as extravagant are so _gaudy_ , just _tasteless_ if you ask me."

"Uh, you want a cake by _Friday_? Are you _insane_?! It's _Thursday!_ " Helga exclaimed. "You've gotta be kidding me. How big of a cake do you even _want_?"

"Oh, just a standard wedding size, I guess." She shrugged. "I'd be willing to expedite it, or whatever you need to get it done on time. I _live_ to serve, you know."

"Yeah, okay. Just…let me think for a minute." Helga bit her lip in concentration. She mulled over the possibilities for a few seconds before speaking up again.

"Alright, _fine_. I'll _bite_. I'll make you a stupid cake. But we gotta make a deal first." Rhonda began to squeal, but Helga held up her hand to stop her. "If you order it through the Dino Land Bakery, my coworkers can work on it while I'm not there, so it should get done on time. We can design it together during lunch. I don't work today, but I do work tomorrow. You'll need to go order it right after school, or have one of your nannies do it for you, I don't know." Rhonda was nodding eagerly. " _But!_ You gotta do a little something for me."

"Oh, of course, Helga, anything! You're one of my nearest and dearest—"

" _First,_ I don't wanna be involved in any lame-ass, like, 'first dance' or any other couple bullshit with Arnold, _if_ I decide to even go to your party, okay?" Helga knew that Phoebe will totally drag her to Rhonda's dumb party even though she didn't want to go, so she needed to secure this little Arnold nugget right here. When Rhonda nodded, Helga continued.

"Second, you have to tell my boss how _amazing_ I am at customer service, _and_ you have to send them an email the day after telling them how everyone at your party loved the cake. We clear?"

Rhonda broke into a huge grin as she rushed over to hug Helga. "Oh, one hundred percent, absolutely! Oh thank you Helga, you are just an angel, a doll! Let me get you a late pass for class, and a few for just being an absolute _darling."_

Helga awkwardly patted Rhonda's shoulder before she pulled away. Rhonda was just a lot to deal with, even more so on a day like today. Still, she couldn't help but be excited to design a cake at lunch. Even if it had to be with Princess Wellington Lloyd.

—-

"Hey, little lion pants." Helga said as she caught up to Lila in the hallway later that morning on their way to lunch. "Rhonda actually wants to design a cake today during lunch for her party tomorrow. Mind helping me so I don't have to be stuck with her alone for half an hour?"

"Why do you always make fun of my pants, Helga? I think they're nice." Lila pouted.

Helga chuckled. "It's just 'cuz your name's _Li-la._ Li-la? Li-on? And, I dunno, I just think little lion pants is a cute nickname." She stuck out her tongue. "Shut up! It's hard to think of a good nickname for you." The two girls laughed.

"Alright, Helga. Anyway, of course I'll help you and Rhonda design a cake. But, gosh, isn't it a bit…well, _late_ to be designing a cake for her party tomorrow?" Lila asked.

"You're telling me!" Helga exclaimed. "But, well, you, Marco and Mabel are working tonight, right? And then me, Dean, and Connie are working tomorrow…plus, those old broads are working during the daytime—"

" _Helga_!" Lila scolded. "Mind your manners."

"What? They _love_ being called old broads." Helga shot Lila a half-grin and caused her to giggle.

" _Anyway,_ like I was saying, I told her to like, fax the cake design to her nanny or whatever so she can go to the bakery and place the order ASAP. I think we can get it done…as long as we keep it _simple_." Helga stopped suddenly and looked Lila dead in the eyes.

"Lila." Helga placed both her hands on either side of Lila's face. "Lila. We _have_ to keep this cake simple. I know nothing is ever simple with _Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd_ , but we _have_ to keep her on track. Nothing too intricate or too detailed, no checkerboard or rainbow interiors. I know you love baking checkerboard cakes, but we can't afford to lose any time with this one, okay? We need to keep it down to one flavor, and a _few_ frosting colors."

"Nothin's ever simple with Rhonda…" Lila said as she looked down, only to meet Helga's eyes again. "But you're right, we _gotta_ keep her on track." She scrunched up her face into a determined look.

Helga smiled. "Good. That's why you're here." She squished Lila's face a bit to make a fish face, and then they headed outside, where Rhonda always ate lunch.

Once they found Rhonda's table, the girls sat down. Helga explained that Lila was there to help, since she also worked at the bakery. She also got out her notebook and a pen to help design and visualize the cake.

Putting on her best Customer Service with a Smile voice, Helga started to help Rhonda design her cake. "Alright, let's start with a theme. Got any colors in mind?"

"Oh, I was thinking something jungle theme, obviously, unless that is too hard to do." Rhonda said as she flipped her hair.

Helga looked at Lila before continuing. "We _could_ do a jungle theme, but it's actually pretty hard to pull off a cool jungle cake without it making it look like it's for a kid's birthday party. I have some pictures of jungle cakes I've done, but they're either for baby showers or like, some bratty kid's party. Plus, don't forget we're working on a time crunch here, princess. Do you have a second option we could work with?"

Rhonda held a finger to her lip thoughtfully. "Well, I do think that a classic color scheme could work. Maybe gold and maroon? _Very_ sophisticated."

"Oh gosh, that would be just so pretty for your party, Rhonda. But maroon and gold might look too much like Harry Potter, I think that could distract from your overall theme, you know?" Lila chimed in.

"I just think red and gold is so _Arnold_ , you know? I mean, he always has to wear a red flannel of some sort, oh you remember, don't you? That little skirt he wore in Grade 4, and then those shorts he wore, oh and that _cornflower_ hair of his—"

It's a good thing that Helga was writing with a pen, because if it was a pencil she's pretty sure it would have been snapped in half.

"Yeah!" Helga uncomfortably exclaimed, probably a bit too loud for their close proximity. "Right! I remember! Yeah! Okay, can we get back to the cake, please? Okay?" She was trying really hard to be patient because Rhonda was now a Customer, but Rhonda is also a really annoying customer.

"Oh, of course, I apologize. We must get this done _post haste_! So sorry about the… _distraction._ " she smiled.

"W-well, Rhonda, what about shapes? Motifs?" Lila interrupted, trying to get Rhonda back on track. "I'd recommend we go with a more simple theme, because of our time limit. Our time will be used more efficiently if the design is simple, and it won't be rushed. But um, we have stencils and stuff so we can do some quick, intricate designs…h-here, let me show you some examples…"

In the end, they settled on a large, thick two-tier red-to-white ombre cake with gold icing drips, chocolate and white marble flavor. Rhonda also wanted a big flower centerpiece right on top.

"Preferably roses, you know? They are just _so_ elegant and timeless, you can't go wrong." Rhonda droned on. "But I trust you two will make it work."

"Yeah, sure, this looks good." Helga was going over their notes. "Let me finalize this sketch real quick, and I'll give it to you so your maid can head over to the bakery, or whatever." She gestured towards Lila. "Plus Lila will be working today, so she can make sure your cake is being done right. And I'll be there tomorrow. So you've got nothing to worry about, Princess."

—-

After a long and tiring day at school, Helga was relieved to finally get home. She did have quite a bit of homework to complete, and she did have to think about what she would say to Mr. Kirkland tomorrow after abruptly (and rudely) leaving their conversation about her mother and her poems (ugh), but she would rather deal with that then have to deal with her classmates' incessant rambling about _Arnold_.

She motioned to unlock the door, but was a bit alarmed to see that it was already opened a crack. Tentatively pushing the door open, she saw a large figure facing the stairwell and it slightly startled her.

"Oh, it's just _you._ " she said as the figure turned around. She gave a small sigh of relief.

Big Bob looked surprised. "Is that any way to talk to your father, little lady?"

"What can I say, you gave me a little spook there, _Bob_." Helga said as she entered the house and shut the door. "And I didn't exactly have the _greatest_ day at school, not that _you'd_ notice. So _sorry_ for the _disrespect_ , _King of Beepers_. But for real, pops, what are you doing here? Did _Piper_ get shanked or something?"

Her biting, witty remark didn't phase him.

"She's up for parole."

Out of all the reasons for her dad to be back at their house, that was the last thing she would have guessed. For the second time that week, the color drained from her face and the breath escaped from her lungs in shock.

"H….how?" she managed so squeak out. Not even five years in prison? How did that seem fair to anyone?

Bob shrugged. "Good behavior. Model inmate. Progress in AA."

"But….b-but why? She…"

Bob held up his hand. "I know, kid. I know. Life ain't fair sometimes, but you take what you can get." he sighed and pulled out something from his pocket. "I came to drop off some money, but I also came to ask you a favor."

"A favor for _who_?" she questioned.

"She wants you two to come to her parole hearing." He said it so nonchalantly, like he was asking to come to her mom's community theatre play.

"Her _parole hearing_?" Helga squawked out, gawking at him. "Are you _joking_?"

"She's doing a lot better. I'd take your griping about your mom before, because, between you and me, she deserved it. But I've been there with her every step of the way, ever since she's been locked up. She's changed. She lives with her guilt every damn day of her life." Bob replied solemnly.

"So _what_? She's _supposed_ to feel guilty." Helga cried. "That's the _deal_ when you get so _drunk_ that you—"

" _Hey_!" Bob exclaimed, pointing a hearty finger at his youngest daughter. "She's off the sauce now. For good. No one's forgiving her for her crime - she's just paid her dues."

"Oh, 'off the sauce', okay! Okay. That's _great_ , Bob. Of course she'd stop drinking, she's in freakin' _prison_. She's probably on heroin instead! _Much_ better!"

"Hey hey _hey_! You can talk to me when you calm down, young lady. You're being hysterical. Now, where's Olga?"

She signed. "My _guardian_ doesn't get home for a few hours." she said quietly. " _Fine_. I'll go _calm down_ for a bit. Not because you told me to, but because I know I _need_ it. But I'm _not_ going to go visit _her_ , and I'm _not_ going to her _parole hearing_. I don't want to be a part of it." Helga turned around and went upstairs to her room, while Bob headed to the trophy room to wait for Olga to get home.

She resisted the strong urge to stomp upstairs and slam the door. Once she got to her room, she kicked and punched a few of her pillows, before she settled for flopping down on her bed.

Thinking that a distraction would be good for her, she checked her phone for any notifications.

 _Pheebs: I didn't see you at lunch today. Is everything alright?_

Oh, shoot. She totally forgot to tell Phoebe that she was spending lunch with Rhonda and Lila.

 _Helga: yeah sorry, had cake business with lila and rhonda. guess which one wanted to order a cake the day before her stupid party? -_-_

After she sent that message to Phoebe, she checked her other message.

 _Lila: Started on Rhonda's cake! Let me know what you think~! :)_

 _[photo attatchment]_

It was a pretty good start - luckily they had some pre-made frozen marble cakes in that size so Lila could go ahead on the decorating. Rhonda would probably freak if she knew her cake was pre-made, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

She wished she actually did have work today - then she wouldn't have seen Bob, wouldn't have to think about Arnold, or this parole garbage - she could just be alone with her cakes. That's all she wanted out of life, really. She was a simple man.

Not feeling up to talk to anyone else, she opened her Spotify app and decided to pick up where she left off this morning.

" _Today was a good day…_ "

"Ugh, shut up Ice Cube, no it wasn't." she said as she threw her phone across the floor, onto the pile of clothes she had against the wall. She should really stop throwing her phone out of anger, one day there might not actually be a soft surface for it to land on.

* * *

thoughts i had while writing this chapter - lol i know this story is super helga centric but that's all i care about :( rhonda reminds me of holly blue agate lol. arnold's family is super hard to write ugh. also why did i put dipper and helga together when i could have put lila and helga together lmao i am a damn fool. there should be some dipper and helga interaction soon! they don't go to the same school so they don't see each other every day lol. but yeah hopefully the whole prison thing didn't catch you off guard lol

thoughts i had about TJM - holy moly it was so good but it was so SHORT? what happened to the 2 hr movie we were promised. i loved helga and gerald's friendship though. arnold would have been completely lost without them lol. they'd make an awesome monster hunting team ! i really want a season six or the patakis to happen.

another note - mr. kirkland and helga's other two coworkers (dean and marco) are all from different shows too…i wonder if anyone can guess where they are all from (:

thanks for all the support, guys!


	5. Chapter 5

chapter 5 - if this is how you folks make art, it's fucking depressing

Helga didn't feel like talking to anyone about her mother's parole just yet. She didn't even know when it was going to happen, or any details about it— when Olga got home and started talking to Bob, she just decided to go to sleep. It was so unlike her to not even try to eavesdrop, as that's honestly how she gets most of her unfiltered Miriam-related information, but she could not be bothered to care right now.

She tried going to school and going through her classes as normal, but it just _bugged_ her. And coupled with the fact that their entire class could _not_ stop talking about Arnold as the ~guest of honor~ at tonight's Wellington-Lloyd party, and Phoebe being gone for her Friday clinical rounds, it was shaping up to be another awful day for her.

"My mom's in jail. That's why the poem was so bizarre." she straight up told Mr. Kirkland after class, not feeling the energy to try to circumvent an excuse. "I don't feel an emotional connection to her anymore."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Pataki. Thank you for your honesty. I understand how hard that must be for you."

She nodded, and thanked her teacher before excusing herself to leave the room.

Lost in her own self-pity, she was startled when Sheena popped up next to her as she closed her locker, gathering her supplies for her next class.

" _Criminy!"_ she yelped, after seeing a face behind her locker door.

"Oh dear! I didn't mean to startle you, Helga! Are you alright?" Sheena asked, her face laced with concern and worry.

"Uh…yeah. I'm just peachy. What , uh…what can I do for ya?" Helga tried to ask lightheartedly, but she was sure it ended up coming out awkward and forced.

"Oh, nothing!" Sheena's airy, high-pitched voice filled the air. "I just wanted to tell you that I just can't wait to see your cake tonight at Rhonda's party!"

She was taken aback a bit by the compliment. "Oh…right. Yeah, thanks Sheena, hopefully it'll look great, _despite_ the sudden deadline…" she said, a bit distractedly. She wasn't used to talking to Sheena one-on-one. Holy moly, why do nice people have to be so _nice_?

"And I bet Arnold is just so excited, too. I can't wait to see what kind of magic will be in the air tonight at the party! See you later!" Sheena waved as she went to her class.

Criminy.

—-

"So is everyone else bugging you about this Arnold nonsense, or am I just the lucky lady?" she asked rhetorically as she sat down on the ground next to Gerald, clutching the lunch that Olga still lovingly packed her. When she woke up this morning, both Olga and her dad were gone. She didn't question it, but she had a feeling she knew where they were, and she didn't want to think about it. "Criminy, it's so hot out today. _Why_ do we still eat outside."

"Where were you yesterday? We missed you." Gerald asked, in-between bites. "Thought ya' ugly ass went to join the circus or something."

Helga barked out a laugh and nudged him with her elbow. "Loser. I didn't mean to ditch you guys, but I had the _pleasure_ of having lunch with Princess Lloyd yesterday."

"My condolences." he gave a half-grin, he knew how awful that must have been for her.

"Thanks. She wanted a cake for her party tonight. So I have to work extra hard after school to get it done by, what? 6 pm?"

"Oh, worm? You're making a cake for her party, huh? Fresh. So you're going to the _Arnold Party_?" he teased.

"The party? Ugh…" Helga groaned. "I don't want to go, at all, but you'll want Phoebe to go, and Phoebe will want me to go, you know…" she looked off into the distance, trailing off. She was still clutching her lunch, not having enough of an appetite to even see what was in it. Gerald noticed this, as Helga always had enough of an appetite to eat circles around him.

"You gonna eat your lunch, hell girl?" Gerald pointed to her lunch with her eyes. "You only got like, 20 minutes of lunch left."

"Huh? Oh…" she snapped out of her daze and looked at her lunch. "Ehh…you want it? I, uh…have…nerves…about that dumb cake I've gotta work on after school, you know?" she lied, still not wanting to mention anything about what happened last night. Gerald picked up on her obvious lie.

"You? _Nervous_ about a cake?" he asked incredulously "I _know_ that's not it. Tired of a cake, I'd buy that. But you sure as hell ain't _never_ been nervous about a cake."

"I'm not nervous about the cake itself! Just…the deadline." She tried to sound convincing, and quickly started to go on about the cake to distract her. "I mean, _sheesh_! Who orders a wedding-quality cake with only _24 hours notice_! Lila got to work on it yesterday, and the older ladies who work there are hopefully working on it now, but _I'll_ only have two hours or so to work on it. I don't mean to sound _sentimental_ or anything, but she ordered it from _me,_ and I want it to look good."

Gerald still wasn't fully convinced, but her explanation sounded reasonable. Sometimes Helga could get crazy over certain cakes, especially the most challenging ones. He remembered a few months ago when a customer ordered a "brushstroke" cake, and Helga obsessed over getting it just right. Over and over again, she complained that the brushstrokes she made "didn't look natural enough" and they looked too "manufactured" or something. Usually he didn't complain about getting Helga's reject cakes, but after the fifth or sixth one, he was ready for her to buck up and accept that they looked _just fine_ and she was driving herself crazy by fixating on this one damn cake.

"I'm sure Rhonda will love whatever you make as long as you do what she says. Or say it came out of _Jalouse_ or something _._ You _know_ she never actually reads those magazines. Just don't sweat it, I'm sure it'll work out. You just gotta have faith in your teammates." Gerald replied.

"Yeah yeah _yeah_ , I gotta learn to _pass the ball_ and have one of my _teammates_ score for once." Helga waved him off. "I've heard all your basketball metaphors before, Cinderella Boy."

They both gawked at the nickname. " _Cinderella Boy_? Man, I haven't heard that one in years!"

"I know!" Helga replied, equally shocked. "I…I don't even know where that one came from…" she scowled. "Probably because of all of this Arrrr-nold business following me around everywhere…"

"Speaking _of_ Arrrr-nold," Gerald said as he reached out and took Helga's lunch, "I know someone else who would _really_ want you at that party…"

"Ugh, don't remind me. Rhonda already tried that one on me." her scowl deepened. "I had to make a deal with her about it, too. I know if I show up to that stupid party by myself, people are gonna talk. Try to push us together or something…"

"So don't show up by yourself." Gerald shrugged. "Bring Dips, or Connie, or someone. Rhonda won't mind."

"What do you mean, ' _bring Dips_ '?" Helga asked, looking at him with suspicion. "Oh, so you're not trying to hook me up with your best friend? Not trying to work undercover or something, to try to get me to reveal that I'm secretly still madly in love with him?"

Gerald shrugged, dismissing her harsh line of questioning. "I don't know. You're my best friend, too. To be honest, I'm kinda conflicted. I just want the best for both of you." he started munching on the peanut butter and (grape) jelly sandwich that Olga packed.

This took Helga back. She should have known that Gerald wouldn't try to persuade her into something she didn't want; he really was one of her best friends. They never told anyone, but after the two got back from San Lorenzo, they both had nightmares about their near-death experiences. Sharing these experiences with each other brought them closer and provided both with a sense of security.

"R-right…" she breathed out. "Sorry…I should have trusted you more. This whole thing…with Arnold, you know…it's kinda driving me _nuts_." She gave a nervous laugh. "I feel like I'm going back in time, you know?" she asked softly. "Everyone around me wants to act like the last four and a half years just…didn't happen."

Gerald nodded. "I'm picking up what you're putting down. It _does_ feel pretty weird having Arnold back outta nowhere. And, between you and me, everyone expects us to be best buds again, but sometimes it's just flat-out _awkward._ I still love the guy, but he spent a lot of time away from us." he sighed. "But it's gonna get better. Homeboy's just gotta adjust to city life some more, too. Maybe get himself a girlfriend. By the way, not that I'm at liberty to say anything, but I'm sure you know of his… _intentions_ regarding your relationship. I already told him about the Dip Situation, and he was cool with it. I just don't know how long he can keep that up. Dude's eyes keep glazing over and reverting to that half-lidded stare he gets when he even _thinks_ about you."

Even though her mind _hated_ it, her heart totally fluttered when she heard Gerald say that. A light blush dusted her face as she tried to get her racing heart to just _shut up_ already.

"I knew there was _something_ there. I hope he just doesn't…you know, do all that Arnold garbage he's always gotta do. You know what I mean." she muttered.

"Hahaha, hold up, _what_? _Arnold garbage_?" Gerald started laughing and pressed Helga for more details.

"You know! The stuff he does when he likes-likes someone!" she exclaimed. "Like tries to impress them, or walks them home, or invites them to dinner with their parents, just, you know, just awful cliche romantic garbage. I don't want any of that, you know, that _nice_ shit!" she reached over to take her sandwich from Gerald's grasp and took a bite before returning it. "You know he's gonna do it." she said with her mouth full. Crossing her arms while still chewing her delicious sandwich (thanks Olga), she contemplated going to that stupid, dumb, Arnold party.

"Maybe I will go to Rhonda's dumb, stupid party. But I'll bring Dipper _and_ Mabel _and_ Connie, and I'm also dragging Lila with me!" Helga announced, crossing her arms in triumph like she accomplished something. "So Football Head will have a hell of a time trying to get me alone so we can _talk_ and _finally catch up cuz I just missed you soo much, Helga…"_ she mocked Arnold's new deep voice.

Gerald chuckled. "Whatever you say, Helga…"

—-

Relieved to be done with school for the day, Helga grabbed what she needed out of her locker.

"Heeelggaaaa!" she heard a voice come from behind her, and she felt a body crash into her back, hugging her from behind.

"Criminy!….Lila?" Helga looked behind her and recognized Lila as her attacker.

"Surprise! I switched shifts with Dean today, so we can work on the cake together!"

Helga's face brightened. Not that she had any problem with Dean, but the kid was kind of a big ball of homeschooled anxiety and she didn't want to deal with his well-meaning but intrusive politeness today. Plus, he was a much better baker than he was a decorator, and the cake was already made so she didn't need any help in that department.

"Hey hey! That's great! You're a much stronger decorator than he is. Plus, it'll be easier for you to get right back into it." Helga smiled, she was much more pumped about going to work today. "Mind if you give me a ride, though? I, uh, actually walked to school today…"

"Oh, of course!" Lila replied and the two girls started to hash out the details of their transportation.

Once they were at Lila's car, Lila went inside to turn on the air conditioning to cool down the car. It was an unusually hot day. It seemed that every year, summer started earlier and earlier.

While Lila was in the driver's seat, Helga hung back outside. She was nonchalantly leaning on the passenger's side like some kind of cool 50's beatnik, or so she liked to think. She doubted that cool 50's beatniks wore pastel pink _Milkbbi_ shirts, but whatever, she liked to think random shit.

She spotted Arnold from across the parking lot, and her heart stopped. ' _What is Arnold_ doing _here? Please don't tell me he's enrolling in school. In_ my _high school.'_ she thought, panicked. Her panic was short lived, though, as she realized that he came alone (sans parents, who would need to do the actual enrolling) and he quickly met up with Gerald, they did their quick little handshake, and they were on their way.

She noted that Arnold and Gerald were pretty much the same height, now. Or were they always the same height when they were younger, it was just Tall Hair Boy's tall hair that made him look like he towered over his best bud? Her heart fluttered, yet again, as she watched Arnold's retreating form.

They _were_ retreating, until a few of her classmates noticed he was there and started to crowd around him, delaying his quick getaway. Of course he was _super excited_ to see his old buddies, and they started to converse.

 _Criminy, they're acting like he's a Hollywood starlet or something. He's just Arnold, for pete's sake._ Helga reached into her bag to grab her sunglasses, partially to disguise herself and partially because the damn sun was _right in her eyes and holy moly Lila how long did it take to cool the car down? Really?_

Unfortunately for Helga, her disguise was moot and Arnold recognized her from afar, gave a big old wave, and started to come right over.

"Oh, great." Helga muttered as she watched him come over. "Hey, universe? You can stop playing tricks on me any time now. I think I've had enough for a while." she sighed and braced herself for an onslaught of Arnold-brand enthusiasm.

"Hey Helga! Did you have a good day at school?" He just _radiated_ sunshine.

"It was…a _day_ …" she replied, trying her absolute best not to be annoyed.

"Wow, I didn't know you had a car. It's…really nice!"

She shrugged. "Ain't mine."

"Oh, well, is it your parents' then? Hey, did your mom ever get her license back?" Arnold asked, innocently enough.

"My—w-what? What? _What?"_ Her mouth fell open. "What? _E-excuse_ me? What? _What?_ "

 _Did your mom get her license back?_

 _Did your mom get her license back?_

 _Did your mom get her license back?_

For a minute, she saw stars cloud her vision. Record scratch, everything around her stopped. She could barely make out Gerald gesturing a throat-slashing motion with his hand, saying something along the lines of _Cut it out, man! Go! Go! I'll catch up, just go!_ and softly pushing his well-meaning friend away as he rushed to her side.

She couldn't stop stuttering and exhaling the same few words. "I can't—what? Are you—? _What_?" Her legs buckled and she had to steady herself by crouching on the ground and holding her head. That simple question had her mind racing, it's as if she couldn't actually comprehend what he was asking. But she knew exactly what he meant. She felt something on her back, but didn't care enough to figure out what it was.

It was an innocent enough question; on one hand, she was thankful that he didn't know what happened to her mom, and he was just trying to be nice. But on the other hand, come on, that was an innocent question when you're in the fourth grade, but when you're in high school… _why don't you just shout it from the rooftops, Arnoldo? My mom's an alcoholic._

"I don't get it, did I do something wrong? S-sorry, Helga! I'm so sorry…" Arnold called after her as he was being pushed away.

"Awww, don't worry _Aww-nold_! You'll see your _giiiirlfriend_ at the _party_!" Harold cried after the two boys, making kissy-noises.

That crude remark sobered her up rather quickly. Her blood ran cold as her head sharply turned to the source of the voice; it was obviously Harold's obnoxious teasing. Her eyebrows furrowed into a deep scowl, her pupils shrank, and a low growl emitted from her mouth. Harold saw this and immediately started to turn around and run away; before Helga could start to pounce she felt a hand grab her shirt and pull her into the passenger seat, another set of hands was pushing her in.

"Helga! Let's go, or we'll be late to work." Lila weakly rebutted. "Harold's not worth it."

"…. _Alright."_ Helga responded sharply, still recovering from her mini anxiety attack she had over Arnold's unassuming question.

—-

Working at the bakery usually makes Helga feel much better about whatever teenage angst or ailment is currently occupying her life. Decorating cakes is her escape, it captures her focus. For a few hours of the day, it's like nothing else exists and her troubles melt away into a pile of buttercream frosting. It calms her down.

Today was different. It seemed as though that little innocent remark that came out of that stupid football-headed _jerk's_ mouth opened the floodgates and every emotion she tried to hold captive this week started to drip out.

 _After a horrid breakup in Grade 6, two heartbroken lovers are separated for half a decade—_

 _He wanted to come here first to see Helga!_

Snippets of conversations from the past two days swirled around in her mind. Or has it been three days since he came back? A week? Helga didn't even know anymore—she's felt so unpleasant since he's come back that the days seemed to blend into one another.

 _I know someone else who would really want you at that party…_

 _Oh, wonderful! Is Arnold going too?_

It didn't help that her phone's been buzzing every hour, on the hour pretty consistently. Her _other_ awful life event wasn't any better, and it shared the already occupied space in her troubled mind.

At first, her phone was just receiving texts; Olga knew she was in school and couldn't talk on the phone. But now, her phone's been buzzing _very_ longly in her back pocket constantly.

" _Please pick up the phone, baby sister! Mommy deserves a second chance, don't you think_?" she heard her older sister wail into her voicemail.

 _I just wanted to check in with you—_

 _She's up for parole._

Really, Olga? After everything she's done? The vehicular manslaughter Miriam committed was really just the icing on the cake that was her childhood trauma. A second chance for what? To forget her winter coats, to pack her shaving cream to eat for lunch, to leave her at school until 7 pm because she promised she'd pick her up this time? Yeah, hard pass.

Her anger has gotten so controlled since she was in grade school. She worked so hard to be a better person, to emerge from her cracked and damaged shell; but she couldn't stop it from seeping out anymore every time a sentence fragment flashed through her mind.

 _I should have taken your feelings into more careful consideration_

 _Mommy deserves a second chance, baby sister!_

 _Can't wait to see you tonight, Helga!_

It _also_ didn't help that her Angry Puberty Tears kept seeping out, too. Helga Pataki was _not_ a crier, she determined, it was just a side effect of inflated hormones that kept fluctuating due to her being a teenage girl. They were clearly a fluke, not reflective of who she was at _all,_ but that didn't make the crying any less embarrassing.

 _Did you see Arnold yet, Helga?_

 _I just really wanted to see you—_

Her existence didn't rely on the fact that Arnold was back in his hometown. It shouldn't have ever relied on him in the first place, but it did at one point in time and she resented it. And she resented everyone who wouldn't let her forget it. It was embarrassing, and pathetic, and _sad._ She was a wreck without him, did everyone forget that? Did everyone forget how she was devoid of emotions, lost all interest in her life, just because he left? But it didn't matter, they just looked so _cute_ together. She should just give him a _chance_ , he really _liked_ her.

Her anger kept building upon itself after every thought that entered her mind. She sniffled, trying to blink the tears back in her eyes, but ultimately failing as some tears were slipping out. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts and emotions to think rationally, this week just came at her out of nowhere and she was not prepared for this kind of pressure and obligation. She was grinding her teeth, breathing heavily, overall not having a swell time.

Lila, who was working across from her on the same cake, waved her hand in front of her friend's face. "Are you okay, Helga?"

 _Did your mom get her license back?_

 _You'll see your girlfriend at the party!_

Helga wiped at her eyes and stood up straight. "Get me the flower molds please, Lila?" she asked calmly, after a deep box breath. "I want to work on the centerpiece."

—

She was a poet at heart. She knew flower language like the back of her hand; especially the flowers that meant _despair, unrequited love, sorrow_ , and similar themes. Life bestowed a plethora of melodramatic inspiration upon her, and her poems needed the symbolism to match. When she found an old book about flower language at the public library's rummage sale, she instantly knew it would be the best quarter she ever spent.

Hours upon hours were spent reading that old book while she was still living at that cold, dreadful, sterile beeper emporium. It helped pass the time.

"Yellow carnations," she said softly, as she pressed the fondant into the mold. " _Dianthus_. Rejection. Disdain. Disappointment."

She memorized what they looked like too, of course. One must be aware of how their funeral's flower arrangements were going to come out.

 _—-the group chat? Our fucking group chat?_

 _He cares about you an awful lot—_

"Columbines." she placed the delicate purple flowers on the cake. " _Aquilegia vulgaris_. Deceived lovers. Ingratitude. Faithlessness," she breathed.

Meticulously planning her funeral was one of her secret hobbies when she was younger, right after Arnold left, and even more so when her mother went "upstate". Her death would have been poetic, and beautiful; her funereal even moreso. It was morbid, but it gave her comfort. It was something she could control. Reliving these memories stung, but it also pacified her. Her life seemed to be falling apart again, by the same two people who decided to shake it up almost five years ago.

"Cypress…death, mourning, despair, sorrow."

Her phone started buzzing again.

Every time she added another flower to the cake, a cool rush of relief washed over her. Maybe Arnold wasn't leaving her alone, maybe her mother will be waltzing back in her life, both acting like nothing ever happened; but at least with Rhonda's cake, she was cemented in reality—she had some kind of control.

There was a chance Rhonda would see all these random-ass flowers and throw a dramatic fit; I mean, who puts stinging nettle on a cake? But Helga was banking on the fact that it _was_ so avant-garde that it would turn out nice and Rhonda would love it. That girl always loves crazy bullshit as long as it comes from _Vogue_ or _L'Officiel._

—-

 _There was definitely something wrong with Helga_ , Lila thought. She hasn't been this distressed for a very long time.

Even though Helga and Lila have been good friends for years, Lila was still slightly afraid of Helga. She didn't like to admit it. It must have been residual feelings from elementary school; some kind of defense mechanism her body had left over. Normally, she wasn't frightened of Helga at all; it was only when she showed extreme anger or extreme calmness right after intense emotion.

Regardless, she was still concerned about her friend. The centerpiece was turning out amazing though; it was full of flowers and colors that no one would expect to look good with this color scheme. But deep down, Lila knew that this was she sort of unusual coping mechanism for her, based on how quickly making the flowers calmed her down. Lila knew that wasn't what Rhonda asked for, either. But it was looking too good, and she didn't want to tell Helga to stop.

Lila glanced across the room, meeting Connie's eyes. They both searched each other for some sort of answer, or support regarding the situation. Connie gave a slight grimace and shrugged; she didn't know what was going on either.

" _Later_?" Connie mouthed, and Lila sighed and nodded, going back to work on the finishing touches of the ombre before she started on the final layer of the gold drip.

* * *

holy moly. originally this chapter was supposed to include the party, but it was already 1000 words over how long my chapters usually are omg! i kinda felt like this chapter was rushed, like too much happened and yet not enough happened at the same time lol.

thanks for all the comments! sorry i'm uploading super slowly; it's been really hard to sit down and focus on writing. please leave me a comment if you guys enjoy; if i know people are reading and enjoying this story then it motivates me to write faster. :)


	6. Chapter 6

chapter 6

After working on the centerpiece for about an hour, Helga took her legally-required break and came back out like nothing ever happened. She hollered to Connie across the room, asking if she wanted to go to the party with her tonight. "You can bring Steven too, if you want," Helga shrugged. "I don't think it's that exclusive or anything. You're going to Rhonda's party too, right Lila? Oh, I just called Mips and Dips, they're coming to the party."

Lila and Connie shared a concerned look. They were used to Helga's mood swings, but this was extreme. Clearing her throat, Lila responded.

"O-of course I'm going, Helga. Um, we actually have…special instructions to deliver Rhonda's cake by 6. _We_ as in, you and I have to deliver this cake, specifically."

"Ugh, of course Princess Lloyd would try to ruin my life as much as possible." Helga muttered. "Well, whatever. It's kinda weird, but as long as you can drop by my house so I can change out of this stupid uniform, I'm good."

The rest of the day went by quietly, all three girls focusing on getting their work done for the day. Lila and Helga had to leave early to deliver the cake, and Connie promised she'd be fine until one of the closers got there.

"I'll…see you guys in a few hours, then?" she asked, unsure. Lila nodded emphatically, clearly wanting Connie to attend the party too. "I mean, y-yeah! See you two later!"

—

"You…sure you're okay, Helga? I didn't want to bother you at work but, um…I'm pretty sure you had an anxiety attack at school—" Lila looked at Helga through the rearview mirror. Helga had to sit in the backseat of Lila's car with the cake.

"I'm _fine_ , Lila. Arnold just…scared me, is all." Helga crossed her arms, huffing.

Lila frowned. "You don't have to hide anything from me."

"I'm not, I just…I got over it, okay!" she exclaimed, falling her arms. "Is that a _crime_?!"

"Careful with that cake, Helga…keep a grip on it." Lila gently chided. Helga huffed again, knowing she was right.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would say that…well, Arnold is making you rather uncomfortable, isn't he?"

"He's just… _annoying_ , is all." Helga muttered, wishing that the ground would just swallow her whole already so she could get out of this stupid conversation. "I mean, criminy, the guy just up and _leaves_ for five years, and he wants to act like nothing _ever_ happened! Like I just didn't—"

Helga's sentence was interrupted by her phone ringing, _again_. Finding this as good a distraction as any from another dreaded Arnold conversation, she answered the phone, albeit very annoyed.

"What!" she snapped. "What! What do you want? What! You've been calling me all da— _rrn_ day!" Helga grimaced as she looked up at the mirror at Lila, who let out a muffled giggle. " _Nice save_ " Lila mouthed, knowing that Helga tried to control her sailor's mouth while talking to Olga. Not that she really cared what her sister thought, but every time she let a curse slip through, Helga never heard the end of it.

"What do you want?….Okay, well, I'm almost home! _Criminy!_ What do you mean _—I had to work!…_ Anyway, I'm busy, I have a party go to to. I have to drop off that cake, remember? Didn't Lila tell you about it?…Alright, alright, alright, look, I'm almost there. See you soon. Bye—ugh. _Love you_ too."

Lila giggled at the almost reluctant affection Helga showed her sister. Helga caught on and stuck her tongue at the auburn girl.

"Olga's been bugging me all day long about some…something about our mother, I don't really know what it is." Helga fibbed, still not ready to say the words _my mother's up for parole_ out loud. Maybe if she didn't say them, it wouldn't be real.

"I do hope everything's okay…" Lila responded, worry lacing her voice.

Helga waved her off. "She's fine. ….I assume, you know? I-if my mother was hurt, she'd tell me, you know?" Ugh, she forgot how hard lying was sometimes.

The rest of the ride to Helga's house was quiet with the occasional comment here and there. Helga asked if Lila wanted any clothes to change into, and Lila said she'd appreciate them ever so much. She didn't want to change back into her school clothes, either; "they're just so gosh darn dirty after school," she said, even though Lila was the cleanest person on Earth and seemed to never spilled anything on her clothes.

—

" _You again?_!" Helga asked as she entered her house and saw Bob and Olga sitting at the kitchen table.

"What do you mean, _you again_?" Bob retorted. "I pay for this house, don't I? Now, sit your fanny down, missy, we've got a conversation that needs to happen."

Helga groaned. "You didn't tell me _he_ was still here." she said through gritted teeth. Olga shot her a sympathetic look, and mouthed a " _sorry_ ". Not that she really _minded_ spending time with her dad anymore, but she needed (a) to be prepared for it and (b) it not to be about her mother getting out of jail and turning their lives upside down again. They had a good thing going here! _She_ didn't need to come back and mess it all up! Regardless, this was a conversation for another time, she _really_ needed to head to Rhonda's right about now.

"Look, as much as I would _love_ to sit down and chat about all this right now, I'm running on borrowed time here. I really just came to grab a change of clothes. I need to deliver this cake to a party, _pronto_ , care of the _Wellington-Lloyds_." Now that she knew Bob was still there, with Olga, very obviously waiting for her to get home, she was actually painfully eager to go to the stupid, god-forsaken _Arnold party_ that she was dreading earlier today.

"So that bakery of yours promoted ya to delivery driver, eh?" Her father leaned back in the kitchen chair, a smug smile on his face.

"Oh…uh… _no_ …" Helga started tentatively, still not used to hearing her father's approving voice. "It's actually for a friend's party…kind of of a long story, actually. She just ordered it through the bakery, we made it, and I'm just doing her a favor by dropping it off." As if a cake decorator would be _promoted_ to delivery driver, she thought haughtily. Wait, that was actually really pretentious and snobby, the delivery drivers were pretty cool.

Big Bob Pataki was actually proud of his daughter's work, as strange as that seemed to Helga (and Olga, honestly.) Cake decorating, she assumed Bob thought, was silly housewife nonsense, what one's bored wife did to pass the time and impress her husband's clients. It was not a suitable career. It was a "sissy" job, unfit for his tough-as-nails younger daughter. Right? So when she finally got an actual job as decorator at the semi-prestigious Dino Land Bakery, she wasn't in a rush to tell her dad during one of their monthly conversations when he returned to Hillwood from his condo upstate.

"You know, Olga's shown me some of your work, little lady." he said over dinner one night. "I gotta say, not too shabby. I heard you got accepted into some fancy, high-class bakery."

The County and State Fair awards that her and Lila won from their baked goods entires probably didn't hurt, as they were proudly displayed alongside Olga's trophies in the Trophy Room.

"Well, if you're only dropping off a cake, you can come right back here in sit down in that chair so we can all have a long talk, little lady."

"Daddy! I already said that Helga could go to the party! You can't make me go back on my word, I would look like a horrible guardian!" she sent Helga a subtle wink. "Plus, the boy she likes will be there!"

Oh, thanks Olga! Thanks. The quickest way to get a father to agree to letting his daughter go to a party is to tell her that a boy is going to be there. Thanks. Thanks.

Ever since she invited her non-PS. 118 friends to the party, she felt a lot better about going. She didn't get to spend a ton of time with Dipper, since he, Mabel, and Connie went to the high school across town. Unfortunately, Dipper wasn't the boy Olga was talking about.

"Boy? What _boy_?" Bob asked suspiciously. "You're not talkin' about that boy with that weird-shaped head, are you? The one that you were all gaga over? For cryin' out loud, Helga, you cried for weeks when he moved away!"

" _Yes_! Thank you!" Helga cried, holding her arms out. " _Finally_ someone with some common sense around here! Don't worry, _Dad,_ I'm staying far away from him tonight, thanks. Plus, hey Olga, don't you remember I'm like, dating my coworker's twin?"

"She's _what_ now?" Bob raised his voice, looking at Olga in alarm. "How come I'm the last to know about everything around here?"

 _It's because you're not here, Dad_ she thought, and from the fact that Olga's eyes met hers at the same moment, Olga was thinking the same thing. But that sad look vanished from Olga's face as quickly as it appeared and she started talking to their father, trying to pacify him. It was way easier for Olga, and Helga took this opportunity to go upstairs and get ready.

Fumbling around her (shrineless) closet, she was trying to hurry up and choose an ironic tee already.

" ' _sorry ladies, i'm married to the ocean_ '? Oh hell yeah, dude." she dryly commented as she grabbed the light blue shirt and a pair of denim shorts and changed out of her uniform. She searched her accessory drawer until she found two identical shark bows that matched her "party outfit". She took off her pastel pink bows that matched her shirt earlier and replaced them with the sharks. Checking that the bows were straight in the mirror, she decided to quickly spruce up her space buns since they were looking kinda beat up.

Come to think of it, _she_ actually looked pretty beat up. Sighing, she took out the foundation she hardly ever used to give herself a little color. She's surprised the darn thing hasn't molded over yet, she's pretty sure she's had the same one since 8th grade.

Stress didn't look very good on her - she didn't carry it well. She also touched up her winged eyeliner, since her tears totally ruined it. Usually, she didn't care about her appearance— but she didn't want people to ask why she looked so pale and and why there were bags and streaks under her eyes. Ugh. _Concern_. Gross.

Once she thought she looked healthy enough for people not to comment on her sickly appearance, she grabbed one of Lila's dresses that she left over in her room, ran downstairs, yelled out "Okay bye!" and ran out the door into the car and away from her pressing responsibilities. She didn't know how long she'd be able to avoid her family duties - but at least she could avoid it tonight.

But, she realized, she was running from her family issues and running straight into her Arnold issues. _Just freakin' wonderful_.

—

"I mean, she might live in a house that's comparable to like, a medieval monarch…but she's just so down to earth, you know?" Helga commented to Lila as they both pulled up to the Wellington-Lloyd house early. Helga hated being the first one at a party, as she preferred to either slip in unnoticed or not go at all, but she had a delivery to make and Rhonda insisted that the cake be delivered at 6 pm. The bakers and decorators hardly ever made deliveries, but of course Rhonda specifically requested that Helga and Lila do it. Ugh. _That trickster!_

Lila laughed at Helga's comment, relieved that her friend seemed to be feeling better. "Helga! That's so mean. It's not like she can control where she lives!" but regardless, she continued to laugh.

"What? It can be mean and true at the same time." she smirked. "Now lets hurry up get this cake in there. The sooner we get in there, the sooner we can _leave_."

The two girls held the cake together and walked inside. Rhonda was outside the door, waiting for them. Once inside, Rhonda directed them to where the cake was being set up. The two girls set down the box and, carefully, revealed the cake that was inside.

Once Rhonda saw the cake, she shrieked.

 _Oh crap, I messed up! Does she know what I did? You ruined a perfectly good cake, you moron._ Helga's thoughts swam around in her mind as she tried to dissect Rhonda's sound.

"Look at it! Oh, it's _flawless_! Those bright colors contrast _so_ well with the muted tones we chose for the cake! Helga you are an absolute genius, _an artist_!" Rhonda gushed as she crushed Helga in a hug.

Looking away sheepishly, Helga responded. "Um, thanks? B-but it was really Lila who did most of the work, I just…worked on the centerpiece," she gave a nervous laugh and looked up at Lila's face. She looked concerned. Helga shot her a frown in return.

Rhonda pulled away from the hug, only to crush Lila in a similar one. Once she was done with the formalities, she instructed the girls to make themselves at home while she was getting the finishing touches done.

"By the way, I spent a great deal of time on the playlist for tonight. Oh, it's just _perfect_." there were a few seconds of silence, as if Rhonda was waiting for someone to ask her to continue. Lila and Helga looked at each other, and Lila spoke up.

"Oh…what, um, what…is on the playlist, Rhonda? I'd…ever so much, like to know." Lila said, a bit unsure.

"I'm glad you asked! Why, it's a hand-picked collection of 90's R&B songs. Just perfect for tonight. Now if you'll excuse me, ladies, I really need to take care of the final decorations…" she left the room, leaving Lila and Helga alone to wait.

"90's R&B? Criminy, what an Arnold amateur. Everyone knows Arnold likes jazz. What is she even trying to pull?" Helga asked, looking unimpressed. Her eyes grazed over to the refreshment table. "Oh, we have unlimited juice? This party's going to be _off the hook_." She wasn't sure if Lila would get her Arrested Development reference or not, but it's not like she was lying. Rhonda got a _lot_ of juice and soda.

Helga didn't drink alcohol, for obvious maternal reasons. She was relieved that there were plenty of single-serve cans of soda that wouldn't be spiked or tampered with. The last thing she needed was to be at this _Arnold Celebration_ , totally plastered.

—-

Arnold never asked for a party to be held in his favor. While he was excited to see all of his old friends again, he didn't think his arrival was _that_ big of a deal. He was away for - what was Rhonda constantly describing it as? - _half a decade_? so he wasn't expecting his classmates to really care that much about his return. The only people who consistently wrote to him were Gerald, Lila, and Phoebe…and Helga, although she stopped writing to him after around the second year of his departure.

So he begrudgingly accepted the gracious, em, party invitation that Rhonda practically forced on him, going on about how he just _had_ to be there and this party was going to be the most _grand event he's ever seen_ after _being away from civilization_ \- Arnold knew she didn't mean to be so full of herself, but that point of view agitated him a bit. Just because he was around different cultures and different ways of life, doesn't mean they were uncivilized. Ugh.

Of course, Gerald thought the whole thing was hilarious, and tried to push him into this _Guest of Honor_ role. Although today after school, he seemed a bit different. After that thing with Helga happened, Arnold tried to press on about it but Gerald refused to budge. All he said was to 'just _please_ try to be more careful around her, man, can't you tell you're bugging the crap out of her?' and similar themes. So, he promised to Gerald, tonight he would be on his Very Best Behavior, and he would let Helga ignore him. No greetings, no questions, no hugs, no innocent remarks that could be construed into something different.

It was still early yet, when they both arrived at the party - there were a few people here and there, but Arnold insisted on being there at 7 pm, when Rhonda said the party started. Gerald tried to get him to ease up a bit, saying that no one showed up that early, but Arnold had this annoying habit that made him be on time for everything.

He glanced at the cake that he knew Rhonda ordered from Helga's work . It was still half-hidden, probably for a big, dramatic reveal, but he could catch slivers of it. Did she make it? He didn't know - but he couldn't get a closer look, as once Rhonda knew he arrived she whisked him away and introduced him to all her new friends. People that - well, he didn't want to be rude - but people that he couldn't frankly care less about right now. Maybe later, in a few weeks or months, but all he cared about was seeing the familiar faces he missed so much.

Out of the corner of his eye, he constantly saw Helga, even though he knew she was trying to avoid him, and he was okay with that for tonight. Every time one of his friends would whisk him away to another area or room, and Helga happened to be there, she quickly left once she noticed him. But he relished the moments that she was unaware of his presence - when she would be dancing with Lila or one of her coworkers, or pouring some juice while she talked and laughed with Phoebe and Nadine. She looked so different than when she was around him; she was calm, and happy, and at ease. Hearing her genuine laughter was so nice, but so was hearing her sarcastic quips and her harsh laughter after she told a joke. He loved seeing her eyes sparkle when she laughed at a story Phoebe was telling, or her tender, precise movements when she was slow-dancing with Lila.

He recognized two of her coworkers from the other day, he was happy to see that she had good friends besides Gerald and Phoebe.

After an hour or two of being tugged this way and that, by Rhonda, and then Harold, then Stinky, and Sheena, and Eugene, and Lorenzo, ect, and being filled in about the details of their everyday lives for the past five years, Rhonda finally cleared her throat, motioned for the DJ to cut the music, and announced in her own dramatic fashion to _let them eat cake_. Or maybe it was just time to cut the cake, or just for everyone to eat the cake - Rhonda and her bourgeoisie household reminded him too much of a revolution-era french noble, especially compared to the huts and camps he was used to.

So he finally got a good look at the actual cake. Rhonda did announce that it was Helga (and Lila, and their bakery) that made the cake, and it was so divine and exquisite that everyone must simply go there for all their baked good needs.

She was right, it was exquisite. It wasn't as big as he was expecting, for a party that Rhonda was hosting, but he assumed it was due to the time restraint. Helga wasn't there admiring it. Once Rhonda made the announcement to gather around the cake, he saw her take someone out to the balcony. He imagined she was probably sick of the cake already. He heard about what a short deadline Rhonda gave her, and he can only imagine how difficult Rhonda is to work with.

But there was something…off about it. The whole cake was pretty, but the centerpiece seemed so…random. It was an amalgam of a bunch of different flowers, many of them not being white, red, or pink - to match the rest of the cake. There were a bunch of purples, yellows, and a few blacks and blues - a few stripes, a few greens, some wildly different shapes, too.

The flowers were odd, placed together. But at the same time, they seemed to fit. There was a common theme linking them all together…

There was an asphodel on that cake, he noted. That was a weird choice, why would Rhonda want an asphodel? It was a pretty flower, sure, but not very common. Along with a narcissus, another white flower. That was another weird one - surely even Rhonda knows what a narcissist is, right? Not that the two are the same, but it's another weird flower to ask for. He also noticed the weird choice of greens that were chosen, as well— wormwood, dandelion, mint, even a fungus or two.

Then there were the colors other than white, that didn't seem to match at all; flowers like red dahlia, yellow tulips, and…columbines? _Love lies bleeding_?

Wait a minute.

Oh.

 _Oh._

"Rhonda…" Arnold asked slowly as he turned to face the host. "Did you…choose the flowers for the centerpiece?"

"Me?" Rhonda responded. "Oh, no, of course not. I suggested roses, but I also gave them creative freedom. And just _look_ at how well I made that decision! No no no, apparently, the flowers were _all_ Helga's doing." she smirked at him, and gave him a wink. He doubted that she knew what he was going at; she probably thought those flowers meant something significant to them as a couple.

There _was_ something linking these flowers together. Their meanings. They all meant something like, despair, or unrequited love, or hopelessness, or even death. All sad, tragic, defeated meanings.

"Red Dahlia…" he muttered out loud. "Betrayal…and, dishonesty? I think? But it's definitely…betrayal at least."

"Hmm?" Gerald asked, beside him, but Arnold wasn't paying attention. He was too busy deciphering this cake.

"Anemone. That's cute. I know that one means sickness…" Is she sick of him already? "I know dandelions mean…overcoming hardship."

"Uhh…what are you going on about, there?" Gerald asked. "Are you…talking to the cake, buddy?"

"Oh…no, no…just…" he didn't know how to tell Gerald what he was doing. Maybe he should try to control what he was saying out loud. He didn't want anyone getting into the middle of this, if his suspicion was true and Helga really did do this petty, undermining sabotage of his cake. "I…I just recognize some of these flowers, is all." he gave a nervous laugh. He quickly scanned through all the other flowers he recognized, and racked his brain for the meanings — bird's-foot trefoil? Revenge. Sweetbriar rose? A wound to heal; was she hurting? He felt a pang of guilt before he moved on to the flower right next to it, which was a columbine; _the emblem of deceived lovers._

His eyes widened, forgetting the guilt he felt moments before. For the first time this week, he understood where Helga was coming from, in terms of feeling pure shock coming out of nowhere - he imagined this is exactly how she felt when he startled her at her work a few days ago.

But this wasn't an innocent little surprise - this was deliberate. She knew what she was doing, and Helga knew that he would know what she was telling him. How could she not? His mother taught him everything he knew about flowers - including old Victorian flower language, along with their modern meanings. His mother taught Helga about flowers, too; how could she forget?

Arnold prided himself on not being the angry type. He was calm, rational, and he always thought situations and conflicts through to try to come up with the best solution for both parties.

But this? This blatant message, disrespect? He's been nothing but nice to Helga since he got back. And sure, he knew that him leaving during their early relationship wasn't easy on her, but she seemed to be doing just fine now! What did he _do_?

The promise to Gerald was quickly forgotten.

He abruptly turned around and sped towards the balcony, where he saw her head to just minutes ago. He heard Gerald call out to him, but he was quickly hidden by the massive crowd around the cake.

He _had_ to see her. He _had_ to know what was going though her mind when she decided to do this; he had to know what he did, if anything, that prompted this flippant disregard for him.

He stood in the doorway for a minute, just looking at her. She was deep into conversation with someone else, a boy. He was an inch or two taller than she was, although it looked like she could overtake him easily if she stood on her tiptoes. His messy brown hair was covered by a white and blue trucker's hat. He had on a red and black flannel, despite the fact that it was a warm late spring evening.

"Helga…" he croaked out once he finally could. "What was that all about?"

"Ehh…what?" Helga gave a nervous laugh, turning away from her conversation partner to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"What—? You and I both know what you did…" Arnold said, trying to get her to realize that the jig was up, he new all about her little display.

Helga glanced toward the person she was talking to, before looking at him again. She leaned toward him a little, encouraging him to continue. "Uhh…" she gave another nervous laugh. "What did I do?"

"What did you—t-the flowers! Are you _kidding_ me?"

"The…the flowers?" Helga squeaked. "W-what ever do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound innocent, but Arnold's been around her enough to know when she was trying to cover something up.

He clenched his hands into fists at his side. "What did I ever _do_ to you?" his voice raised a little. "I mean, you put _columbines_ on my cake? Really? _Columbines_?" his voice cracked. "Do you think I don't know what those stand for? Or how about the wormwood, or the white tulips? Huh?"

"I…I don't know what you're talking about!" she said quickly. "Rhonda said we could go crazy on the flowers, so I just picked up one of those bridal magazines we had a-and copied the bouquet." She quickly tried to lie. But it wouldn't help her now.

"Really, Helga?…" he chided her softly. "My mom's a _botanist_."

Helga paled as she realized she's been caught. "You weren't…supposed to know…" she breathed out.

Of course she should have known that. Of course. _Mrs. Shortman is a botanist. Don't you remember all those spring hours spent planting sunflowers, you stupid piece of shit? You loved those flowers. The day they grew taller than you, that crisp fall day, was one of your favorite days of your life. You absolute fucking moron. Way to go. You fucking clown._

"It was just…" she croaked out, trying to find the right words to explain or excuse her actions, "I didn't ever think anyone would find out, I don't know, I just—I—"

But there was no explaining or excusing this. She instantly clammed up, feeling cold, although she could feel sweat dripping from her forehead. _Please don't let this be the third one this week_ , she thought.

Ignoring the _Independent Women, Part 1_ that was blasting from inside, Arnold pressed on.

"Helga! You can't just _do_ things like that without consequence! It's mean, a-and insensitive! I thought you weren't like that anymore! How is something that supposed to make me feel?"

Whatever timidity or reluctance she felt, it evaporated once that sentence left his mouth. " _You_?" the shrillness of her voice surprised them both, making her flinch, but she ignored it and carried on. "How does that make _you_ feel?" she yelled, pushing herself off the balcony railing.

"Well, what about how _I_ feel, huh?" she inched toward him after every syllable that left her mouth. "Like _you_ could ever understand how _I_ feel!" she exclaimed. Her eyes flashed with an anger he was sure he hasn't seen since he told her he was moving to South America.

"And by the way, bucko, maybe the cake thing wasn't about you at all, huh? _Newsflash_! _Not everything in town is about Arnold Shortman_!"

"W-what?" he asked breathlessly, his question loaded with confusion. "Who else would it even be about?"

"Maybe, it was about _me_!" she yelled. "Maybe it was _my_ way of dealing with _my_ _emotions_!" she yelled, breathing heavily. "Maybe it was my way of dealing with the _two—_ count 'em!— _two anxiety attacks you gave me this week!_ Ever think of that? _"_

Stunned into silence, he didn't know how to respond.

"Of course you didn't." she muttered sharply, after a few seconds. "It's always going to be about you, isn't it?"

Arnold didn't know what to say after that. Sure, her actions were still pretty uncalled for, but he had no idea he was effecting her so badly to the point where she was getting anxiety attacks. He didn't even know she had anxiety. This was Helga G. Pataki. He never thought just _existing_ would mess her up like this.

"Uhh…excuse me…" Arnold heard a voice besides Helga after a few minutes of silence. "Who…are you, again?" the voice cracked.

Arnold looked to the source of the voice. Through all the commotion, he forgot she was talking to someone…he assumed it was her boyfriend, or whatever they were. Helga was always weird with labels.

" _What_?" Helga asked, over-the-top dramatically, spinning around to face the boy. "You mean _you don't know_ who _Arnold Shortman_ is? Why, he's only the most _important boy in all of Hillwood_!" she yelled, arms outstretched as she spun around to meet Arnold's gaze with a maniacal smile gracing her face.

"Helga…" Arnold warned. Okay, now _this_ is the Helga he knew and could respond to.

" _Anybody_ who's _anybody_ knows who _Arnold_ is!" she broke the facade and started laughing. "I mean, they don't leave me alone about the guy!" she said in-between hard fits of laughter. "I can't catch a break!" As she continued her rambunctious laughter, it soon turned into fits of crying.

That brought Arnold back from the clouded anger he had moments earlier. Helga? Crying? Between this and the anxiety - did he _break_ her? The two boys' eyes met briefly before they both landed on Helga again.

"Helga, I'm so sorry, I—" Arnold went over to comfort her "I didn't mean to—"

"Oh, h-hang on, I got this." the brown haired baby lumberjack held up his hand to stop Arnold. "I got this one…b-boyfriend duties, you know?" he gave a nervous laugh. He opened up his jacket, yelled " _Cocoon time_!", and wrapped her in it as he swayed back and forth.

He didn't have to do it for long, after about five seconds she emerged from the…cocoon and was laughing.

"Dipper! You d _ork_!" she playfully shoved him. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Uh, because it works?" he joined her in laughter.

"But it's so _dumb_!" she continued to laugh and wipe her tears away. "S-sorry, about that, you know, _crying_ junk. I've had really bad week, and you know how bad my stupid puberty tears have been lately."

"Puberty tears! Haha, yeah, okay, whatever you say, Helga." Dipper winked and ruffled her buns. She stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry in response.

A small spike of jealousy ran through Arnold. That was _his_ phrase. And speaking of this dude, Helga didn't yell at him at all. Didn't painfully shove him away when he showed affection. _Public_ affection. It seemed like she welcomed it. Didn't run away when she showed embarrassing emotions. Hey, that wasn't even an actual shove. She didn't even get mad? That wasn't even a mean laugh? What is going on here?

"What's that thing Mabel says? You're a pisces, dude, you just _cry and cry_ all the time."

"Shut up!" she laughed. " _You're_ the pisces, you loon!"

"I am not!"

Is _this_ what he missed out on? This relationship with a non-volatile Helga Pataki? He seemed to always get the brunt of her emotions when they were together when they were younger. She would get mad when she showed any vulnerable emotion. And here she was, crying openly at a Rhonda party, out of all places, and she didn't try to run away. And just as quickly as it happened, she got over it. She didn't storm off out of embarrassment, or threaten to punish anyone who would _dare_ to utter a single word about this incident.

"Thanks, Dips…but I think I need to talk to Arnold alone for a second."

Both boys were shocked, and actually looked at each other before looking back at Helga.

"Uh…you sure about that, Helga? Isn't this the same dude you've been complaining about for like, three days straight?" Dipper asked.

She gave another laugh. "Haha, yeah. But I'll be fine, don't worry, I'm a tough old broad." she gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. "I'll be in in a minute, it won't take long. Hey, maybe you can try that dumb cake that's giving me so much trouble, eh? Let me know how it tastes!" she stood on her tiptoes and gave his forehead a kiss.

"Haha. You're so sweaty, it's kinda gross." she teased him. Dipper rolled his eyes and started to leave the balcony. "If you say so." he said, pointedly ignoring the sweaty comment. "But…" he glanced at Arnold, who was still just staring at them. Not even avoiding his gaze, his face just had shock written all over it. "I'm, uh…gonna keep an eye on you two. He seems like…kind of a shifty fellow…" he saw Helga make a questioning face, and quickly added, "I just…want you to be okay, you know? He's already made you cry enough times…"

Arnold's ears grew read as he heard Dipper talk to Helga. _He's already made you cry enough times._ Real nice, Football Head.

He heard the couple continue speaking, but he wasn't listening to their words anymore. _He's already made you cry enough times. He's already made you cry enough times._ Kept going through his head. _Two—_ _count 'em!_ — _two anxiety attacks you gave me this week!_

Now he felt like a real jerk.

* * *

sorry about the confusion - if you think you read this chapter before, you did. i took this chapter down thinking it might accomplish a certain goal i had in mind, but it didn't.

i've lost a lot of motivation for this story and i'm not sure i'd like to continue. but 41 people follow this story, and i know i like to get as much content as i can as a reader, so i put this chapter back up. i know this chapter is almost like a cliffhanger of some sort, so i apologize. but whenever i sit down to finish the next chapter i feel like i'm doing a disservice to the characters and i feel too uncomfortable writing. as a protip to some of you more "passionate" reviewers - if your review demotivates the writer, you have failed in your critique. be kind and sensible when you are trying to help someone improve. no one owes you a good story for free.

if anyone's read this story and wants to continue it on my behalf, i'm giving you permission to do so. if anyone wants to take this premise and rewrite it, go ahead! i'd love to see it. i'd be happy to share my playlist and future chapter ideas if you'd like to take this story and make it your own.

this doesn't mean i'm abandoning this story forever - but i'd like to be upfront with my readers. i'm taking a break from this fanfic for the foreseeable future. thank you to all my reviewers who genuinely liked this story - you motivated me to keep going. :)


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